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ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY 



ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY 



BY 



ISADOR H. CORIAT, M.D. 

Second Assistant Physician for Diseases of the Nervous System, Boston City 
Hospital. Neurologist to the Mt. Sinai Hospital 




NEW YORK 
MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY 

1910 



tf 






Copyright, 1010, by 

MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY 

New York 

All Eights Reserved 
Published, April, 1910 



©CL A 26 15 23 



TO 

DR. MORTON PRINCE 

IN APPRECIATION OF HIS PIONEER WORK 
IN ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction . . . . . . vii 

PART I 

THE EXPLORATION OF THE 
SUBCONSCIOUS 

CHAPTEK 

I. What is the Subconscious? ... 3 

1. The Subconscious Defined . . 3 

2. The Modern Theories of the Sub- 

conscious 8 

3. The Subconscious Mechanism in 

Everyday Life . . . 14 

4. How the Subconscious Becomes 

Diseased 22 

II. Automatic Writing and Crystal Gazing 28 

III. Testing the Emotions ... 42 

IV. Analyzing the Emotions ... 67 
V. Sleep 88 

r VI. Dreams 109 

VII. What is Hypnosis? 132 

VIII. Analysis of the Mental Life . . 151 
The Psycho-Analysis of a Case of 

Hysteria . . . . .163 

v 



VI 



CONTENTS 



PART II 



THE DISEASES OF THE 
SUBCONSCIOUS 



CHAPTER 
I. 




PAGE 

177 


II. 


The Restoration of Lost Memories 


195 


III. 


Illusions of Memory 


208 


IV. 


The Splitting of a Personality . 


216 


V. 




233 


VI., 


Psychasthenic .... 


273 


VII. 




298 


VIII. 


Psycho-Epileptic Attacks 


315 






323 



INTRODUCTION 

Abnormal psychology, or the study of ab- 
normal mental phenomena, is one of the late 
developments of scientific medicine. It is not 
a mere fad, as some of its critics would attempt 
to make us believe, neither has it sprung up 
like a mushroom, within a single night. Ab- 
normal psychology is the outcome of the work 
of small groups of investigators in France, 
Germany, and America, within the last twenty- 
five years. Beginning with a study of the 
phenomena of hypnosis, these researches gradu- 
ally developed into a series of brilliant psycho- 
logical discoveries. The most important of 
these is the principle of dissociation or of 
splitting of the mind. In a general way we 
speak of these matters as the theory of the 
subconscious. This theory has not only thrown 
an immense amount of light on the nature of 
human personality, but other peculiar phenom- 
ena, such as losses of memory or amnesia, 
automatic writing, crystal gazing, and such dis- 
eases as neurasthenia, hysteria, psychasthenia, 
have been stripped of the mystery which sur- 



viii INTRODUCTION 

rounded them for centuries. These phenomena, 
even more than the modern investigations on 
the ultimate nature of matter, form the " fairy- 
land of science." Apart from any scientific 
knowledge, the general reader has a certain 
interest in these problems, either from curiosity 
or the light they shed upon human personality 
or perhaps from the mystery which seems to 
surround them. 

Abnormal psychology has also its practical 
aspects. Its discoveries have made possible the 
psychic treatment of certain functional nervous 
disorders. Technically, this is known as psycho- 
therapeutics. The interpretation of these func- 
tional states is based on the principle of the 
dissociation of consciousness. But psychothera- 
peutics would be in a very chaotic condition and 
barren of results, were it not for abnormal 
psychology, for a scientific psychotherapeutics 
must be based upon a sound psychopathology. 

Most of the investigations on abnormal 
psychology are widely scattered in medical pub- 
lications and in psychological journals of a 
highly specialized character, thereby making 
these researches almost inaccessible to the gen- 
eral reader. There has been no attempt, so far 
as known, to bring all this material together 
within the compass of a single book. It is 
with this object in view that the present volume 



INTRODUCTION ix 

was written. In it an attempt will be made, not 
only to summarize the principal work in this 
fascinating field, but also some personal ob- 
servations and experiments will be added. 

Most of the problems of abnormal psychology 
centre around the modern theory of the sub- 
conscious. While there is no consensus of 
opinion as to the exact interpretation of these 
subconscious phenomena, yet it is admitted by 
all psychologists that subconscious or disso- 
ciated mental states exist. Whether these states 
depend upon psychological or physiological ac- 
tivities, or whether they are normal or abnormal 
conditions, seems to be the chief ground of con- 
tention. It seems that subconscious manifesta- 
tions present all grades of complexity, from the 
absent-mindedness of everyday life to the phe- 
nomena of hysteria and multiple personality. 
Before we can comprehend the more compli- 
cated aspects of subconscious mental states we 
must have a clear understanding of their simpler 
manifestations. The evidence seems to show 
that subconscious mental states are not always 
proofs of disease, but just where the physio- 
logical ends and where the pathological begins, 
is difficult to determine. No hard and fast 
line can be drawn, there is a decided overlap- 
ping, an almost imperceptible shading of one 
into the other. For in psychology as in pathol- 



x INTRODUCTION 

ogy, the normal explains the diseased, and the 
diseased throws light on the normal. Absent- 
mindedness, the forgetting of familiar names, 
purposeless or thoughtless actions, all these may 
be designated as normal states of mental dis- 
sociation, because they occur in everyday life. 
On the other hand, such manifestations as 
hysteria or multiple personality or losses 
of memory are distinctly pathological con- 
ditions. 

Therefore, in order that clearness may not be 
sacrificed, we must pass by slow gradations from 
the simplest to the most complex forms of sub- 
conscious mental states. We must understand 
the normal before we can hope to grasp the 
abnormal. Without adopting this method, we 
would become lost in a maze of psychological 
theories. After we have learned, so to speak, 
the grammar of abnormal psychology, by this 
meaning the psychopathology of everyday life, 
we are then in a position to understand the 
work on hysteria, neurasthenia, amnesia, mul- 
tiple personality, etc. These subjects will be 
discussed from the standpoint of dissociated 
mental states, without entering into the field 
of psychical research. We shall see that these 
phenomena can be explained by purely psycho- 
logical and physiological mechanisms based on 
well-recognized laws of body and mind, and 



INTRODUCTION xi 

that there is no need of supernormal interpreta- 
tions. 

This volume is, therefore, divided into two 
parts, which are indicated by the titles " The 
Exploration of the Subconscious " and the 
" Diseases of the Subconscious." In the first 
section, after a discussion of subconscious phe- 
nomena in general, we will pass to the methods 
of analyzing these phenomena and making them 
objective facts. The second section will be 
devoted to a study of certain functional dis- 
turbances which, either in whole or in part, are 
due to perversions of subconscious mental states. 

In general what can psychotherapy, in its 
purely practicable aspects learn from these com- 
plex theories? What can psychotherapy do 
and how does it do it? That the principles are 
eminently practicable is shown by the results 
of psychotherapy. The modern concepts of the 
principles of mental dissociation and mental 
synthesis, of subconscious and unconscious men- 
tal states were the forces which were responsible 
for the birth of this new psychology in its prac- 
ticable application to medicine. Popular ideas 
on suggestion are so loose and vague that a 
restatement of the scientific principles upon 
which suggestion is based may have a certain 
value. It seems to be the general idea that 
suggestion is a kind of magic wand in the hand 



xii INTRODUCTION 

of the physician, and that the waving of this 
wand can make diseases appear or disappear in 
the same manner that a rabbit appears to sud- 
denly pop out of the magician's silk hat. So 
suggestion has come to have a certain occult or 
mystical meaning, in the same way that the term 
subconscious has been popularly interpreted as a 
supernatural state of mind. We hope to show 
that nothing of this sort is possible and that 
psychotherapy cannot change one iota of the 
laws of the mechanism of consciousness. Func- 
tional neuroses do not get well by a presto 
change method. Their treatment requires long 
study, numerous examinations, a knowledge of 
the theoretical and practical principles of ab- 
normal psychology and of all the diagnostic 
methods of modern medicine. 

Boston, Ja/tmary, 1910. 



PART I 

THE EXPLORATION OF THE 
SUBCONSCIOUS 



ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY 

CHAPTER I 

WHAT IS THE SUBCONSCIOUS? 

1. The Subconscious Defined 

The word " subconscious," so important as 
to be almost a key, has been twisted by popular 
usage to mean almost anything beyond the pale 
of ordinary experience. It is applied in these 
pages only to certain well-attested psychological 
phenomena, phenomena which present them- 
selves in different ways according to the stand- 
point of the observer. The student of diseased 
conditions looks upon the subconscious as a 
derangement of certain functions of the nervous 
system; to one interested in the functions them- 
selves, the subconscious means an inability to 
reproduce, at will, the images of past experi- 
ences; the psychologist regards the subconscious 
as an independent consciousness, co-existent with 
the healthy consciousness but detached from it. 

It is this latter standpoint which is the most 
fruitful of mistake and misconception in the 
popular mind. Let it be stated at the beginning 
that while this detached portion of conscious- 



4 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

ness is able to do any mental task, it cannot, 
however, perform so-called supernatural feats, 
at least so far as any reliable scientific evidence 
has shown. 

Since these states of mental dissociation are 
phenomena of the nervous system, we will first 
very briefly turn our attention to a few of them. 
The nervous system is the domain of conscious- 
ness, associative memory, and reflex action. 
The chief functional characteristics of the nerv- 
ous system are — the storing up of impressions 
and their reproduction in the order in which 
they are stored up, reflex action, and conduction. 
The first of these functions, the storing up of 
impressions, is the most important, as it prob- 
ably forms the basis of memory. However, the 
exact correlation of mental processes with phys- 
ical changes in the brain is impossible. As 
Tyndall says, " The passage from physics to 
the phenomena of consciousness is unthinkable." 
We may state in general, however, although 
this will not bear rigid critical analysis, that the 
brain probably stores up impressions in the 
manner that the phonograph cylinder stores up 
sound vibrations and reproduces these as sounds. 
Or the analogy might be carried a little fur- 
ther, by referring to one of the phenomena of 
living nerve tissue. The retina of the eye stores 
up ether vibrations, and their persistence in the 



WHAT IS THE SUBCONSCIOUS? 5 

retinal nerve elements form what is known in 
physiology as " after images." For instance, if 
one looks very intently at a bright light for a 
second or two and then closes the eyes, one will 
still see the image of that light for a brief 
period of time. The impression of light has 
outlasted the objective stimulus which caused 
it. Probably phenomena of a like nature take 
place in the brain, but of this we cannot be 
certain. No one has yet shown absolutely how 
physical changes in the nerve cells can cause 
mental phenomena, or vice versa, how mental 
phenomena can cause physical changes except- 
ing perhaps in the domain of the physiological 
accompaniments of the emotions. Our knowl- 
edge is limited to the statement that the brain 
is the organ of consciousness, but exactly how 
brain activity produces consciousness is a riddle 
which probably will never be solved. 

Consciousness is a feature of all brain activity,) 
but whether it is a result of this activity, or 
whether it runs parallel to it, opens up the 
enormous field of the interaction of mind on 
body and body on mind. If we assume that 
it is probably the action of the molecules within 
the nerve cell which causes consciousness, we 
must also assume that what comes to me as 
consciousness would be visible to an outsider 
merely as molecular activity. Even in the 



6 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

deepest hypnotic and somnambulistic states, 
consciousness is very active, but it is probably 
absent or reduced to a very low level in sleep 
and certainly completely absent in deep chloro- 
form or ether anesthesia. Strong says, 1 " The 
doctrine thus reached is variously expressed by 
saying that brain action ' causes,' ' generates,' 
' manufactures,' or ' calls into existence ' states 
of consciousness; that consciousness is depend- 
ent on the brain." This doctrine of the causal 
relation between mind and brain activity is 
called the theory of automatism. It is directly 
opposed to what is known as parallelism, which 
states that brain activity and mind run side by 
side — in other words, are simultaneous events* 
The storing up of objective experiences is 
principally through the complex organs of sen- 
sation, — the eye, the ear, and the skin. These 
experiences are stored up in the nerve cells of 
the brain, their traces forming what are known 
as physiological dispositions or complexes. The 
revival of these stored-up experiences is called 
memory; but only those experiences are capable 
of revival which have produced sufficient traces. 
Memory may preserve not only what is worth 
having, but also what is not worth having. 
Usually these experiences are stored up in the 
order in which they are received, and the revival 

1 C. A. Strong: "Why the Mind Has a Body." 



WHAT IS THE SUBCONSCIOUS? 7 

of one portion of the experience tends to revive 
the others which are connected with it. This 
forms the physiological basis of association. Of 
conscious experiences or rather of experiences 
which remain in consciousness we are usually 
aware, and we can revive and suppress them at 
will. In other words, they lack automatism and 
independent activity. When an experience is 
stored up, but cannot be voluntarily reproduced, 
we speak of it as dissociated or subconscious. 
A synthesis cannot be formed except through 
special devices. A mental dissociation is, there- 
fore, directly opposite to a mental synthesis. 
By the former, we mean that experiences are 
detached or split off — by the latter, that these 
split off experiences are made whole again. 

In normal mental life, except under special 
and very transitory conditions, stored-up ex- 
periences do not tend to become split off from 
consciousness. When an experience or complex 
has become dissociated, it tends to act automati- 
cally, and cannot be controlled by the will. 
This is well seen in those abnormal mental 
states which are termed obsessions and in some 
forms of automatic writing. In certain hys- 
terical states, in functional losses of memory, 
or in multiple personality, the subject is not 
aware of the dissociated experiences. The chief 
factors in dissociation, whether simple or com- 



8 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

plex, seem to be automatism, independent activ- 
ity, lack of awareness, and the inability to repro- 
duce conserved experiences. By what is known 
as " tapping " the subconscious, as in hypnosis 
and in states of abstraction, in crystal gazing 
or automatic writing or through various other 
devices, we can bring these dissociated activities 
into full consciousness, or in psychological terms, 
produce a synthesis. 

2. The Modem Theories of the Subconscious 

We are now prepared to briefly discuss the 
principal dominant theories of the subconscious. 
All psychologists agree on one fundamental 
principle, however conflicting their interpreta- 
tion of the various phenomena may be, namely, 
that our minds are made up of certain states, 
for some of which we are conscious and for some 
not conscious. Whether in normal minds these 
extra or subconscious states are merely isolated 
phenomena, such as ideas or feelings, without 
being grouped into systems, or whether they 
are composed of more complex states capable 
of independent activity, is the crux of the whole 
question. By some this splitting of conscious- 
ness is always considered an indication or sign 
of disease, but it can be shown that normal 
everyday activities exist in which there is a 
transitory dissociation, although this may con- 



WHAT IS THE SUBCONSCIOUS? 9 

sist of merely isolated ideas without organiza- 
tion. Of course, it is in the realm of mental 
pathology that we get the best known examples 
of subconscious phenomena. 

The theories of the subconscious are several 
and can be divided into various groups. 1 The 
first theory states that the subconscious is that 
portion of the field of consciousness which at a 
given moment is outside the focus of attention. 
It is a marginal state in which the sense of 
awareness is more or less prominent. If we are 
aware of a certain matter it is conscious; if we 
are only partially aware of it, it is suppressed 
or dormant; if we are not aware of it, then it 
is subconscious, or dissociated. 

The second theory is that subconscious activ- 
ities consist of dissociated or split-off ideas. 
These are split off from the main stream of 
consciousness and may become isolated, like 
the losses of sensation in hysterical anesthesia, 
or changes in the personality, as in amnesic 
states and multiple personality. 

The third theory is Frederick Myers' poetical 
though most unpractical theory of the sub- 
liminal self. 2 Myers' doctrine is purely meta- 
physical and states that consciousness or what 

*For a more detailed statement of these theories the reader is 
referred to Dr. Prince's article in the symposium on " The Sub- 
conscious." — Journal Abnormal Psychology, Vol. II, Nos. 1-2, 1907. 

2 " Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death." 



10 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

he calls the superliminal self, is only a small 
portion of that underlying great reservoir of 
consciousness which he terms the subliminal 
self, this latter making up the greater portion 
of our personality. We are only conscious of a 
small portion of our consciousness; the greatest 
part of it is submerged in the same way that 
the greatest portion of an iceberg is submerged 
and only a fragment shows above the surface 
of the water. He bases his ideas upon the 
psychological theory of thresholds of a mental 
level, above which sensation must rise before it 
can be manifest. Below this threshold of sen- 
sation lies what he calls the subliminal self. 
Or to draw an analogy from physics, conscious- 
ness is only the visible portion of the spectrum — 
the invisible, ultra portions are our subconscious 
selves. 

The fourth theory states that the subconscious 
consists of dissociated experiences, things for- 
gotten and that cannot be recalled, in other 
words, out of mind. To use a physical term, 
this is consciousness at rest, or consciousness 
which is not active. These inactive states of 
consciousness, while they may be recalled as 
memories either spontaneously or through cer- 
tain technical devices, for the moment are out 
of mind, because our thoughts are occupied with 
something else. 



WHAT IS THE SUBCONSCIOUS? 11 

The fifth theory is the physiological idea of 
the subconscious, the theory known as uncon- 
scious brain-thinking, unconscious cerebration, 
which states that all subconscious manifesta- 
tions, such as hysteria, automatic writing, the 
subconscious solution of mathematical prob- 
lems, are merely pure nerve processes unaccom- 
panied by any thought whatsoever. According 
to Miinsterberg, the subconscious is not psychi- 
cal at all; he would interpret it merely as a 
physiological process. 

A more practical theory, and one better sup- 
ported by the evidence, is that active thinking 
processes may exist although we may not be 
aware of them. These subconscious mental 
states of which we are unaware may have in- 
tense emotions, may fabricate, or may even work 
out complex intellectual problems. 

Thus the phenomena called automatic writ- 
ing, which will be described at length in a sub- 
sequent chapter is, briefly stated, obtained by 
placing a suitable subject in a state of abstrac- 
tion, putting a pencil in his hand, whereupon 
without any act of willing or conscious control, 
words, sentences, and even mathematical se- 
quences are written. 

One automatic writer, Mile. Helene Smith, 
reported by Flournoy, 1 described thus in detail, 

^h. Flournoy: "From India to the Planet Mars." 



12 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

the conditions on the planet Mars. For some 
time these descriptions were held to signify 
that the subconscious subject was capable of 
supernatural communications, but careful an- 
alysis established two facts, both of which this 
chapter is concerned with emphasizing, first, 
that subconscious processes were not mechanical 
reproductions, but might be very complicated 
new combinations of ideas; and, second, that 
Mile. Smith, in her automatic writings, told 
nothing that might not have been gathered from 
her previous reading and experiences, in other 
words, it is unnecessary to call upon spiritual 
realms for an explanation. Concerning this 
latter, Flournoy states, that several years before 
the automatic writing developed to such a de- 
gree in his subject that she claimed to be able 
to communicate with the planet Mars, she had 
more than once directed her conversation to 
the habitability of this planet and to the dis- 
covery of the famous canals. 

Also as the result of certain experiments with 
hypnosis, and the galvanic reactions in cases of 
multiple personality, it has been shown that 
under these circumstances complex calculations 
and translations could be done, and it would 
be inconceivable to think that these were pure 
physiological processes without thought. In 
this sense of an active thinking process, Freud 



WHAT IS THE SUBCONSCIOUS? 13 

has also conceived the subconscious. In it lie, 
according to Freud, unconscious ideas, feelings, 
and records of past experiences, all of which 
may have a disturbing influence on the normal 
and abnormal mental life. 

At the sixth International Congress of 
Psychology, held at Geneva during August, 
1909, a discussion of the subconscious formed 
one of the important subjects. This discus- 
sion was led by Max Dessoir, Pierre Janet, and 
Morton Prince. Max Dessoir drew a close 
analogy between the field of consciousness and 
the field of vision. From the psychological 
standpoint, in the visual field we have the centre 
of the field which corresponds, according to 
Dessoir, to the focus of consciousness, and the 
periphery or edge, of the field, which corre- 
sponds to the subconscious. In the periphery 
or edge, the contents of consciousness are either 
very dimly perceived or not at all, and these 
peripheral contents can become dissociated, 
split off, from the main or focal consciousness 
and lead an independent existence. Morton 
Prince suggested that the term subconscious 
be discarded and the word co-conscious be sub- 
stituted in its place. The expression " co- 
conscious," relates to dissociated mental proc- 
esses of which the subject is not aware, such 
processes (in passing from the simple to the 



14 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

complex) as automatic writing, hypnosis, and 
hysterical states. These processes are not 
mere blind automatisms, but possess intelligent 
psychological qualities, such as reasoning, cal- 
culation, memory, and volition. Furthermore, 
in cases of multiple personality, these disin- 
tegrated mental processes may lead an inde- 
pendent existence, in every way analogous to a 
normal mind. He would limit the term " un- 
conscious " to certain physiological brain dis- 
positions, such as conserved memories, which 
do not become psychic processes until stimu- 
lated. 1 Janet in this discussion limited the 
term subconscious to certain phenomena ob- 
served only in hysterical conditions. 

3. The Subconscious Mechanism in Everyday Life 

In everyday life a number of these dissoci- 
ations may take place; for instance the forget- 
ting of a name, absent-mindedness, slips of 

1 Dr Prince has also suggested the following classification. 
He would use the term " subconscious " in a generic sense, as 
implying all detached states of consciousness. This term he 
further subdivides into " co-conscious," meaning an active think- 
ing process, and " unconscious," which is equivalent to uncon- 
scious brain thinking, a process which is unaccompanied by con- 
sciousness of any sort. The following scheme will make this clear: 

Subconscious 

I 

Co-Conscious Unconscious 



WHAT IS THE SUBCONSCIOUS? 15 

the tongue, purposeless actions, the feeling of 
having experienced an entirely new sensation 
before or having previously been in a place 
which we are visiting for the first time (param- 
nesia or illusions of memory). The forgetting 
of a name is a very prominent instance of a 
normal dissociation of consciousness. How 
many times has it occurred that when one tries 
to recall the name of a person or a place it 
lingers in a most aggravating manner on the 
tip of the tongue but later, perhaps hours 
later, probably while engaged in something else, 
when we have put the thing out of our mind, 
the name will suddenly flash into consciousness. 
Here is an example of a normal amnesia, and 
the principle of the sudden return of the for- 
gotten name while in a later state of abstraction, 
when the effort to remember the name has 
been put out of mind, is of great value in ab- 
normal psychology, particularly in the psycho- 
logical device of the synthesis of certain amnesic 
states, as will be pointed out later in the chapter 
on memory. Sometimes also, following severe 
intellectual work, a temporary forgetfulness for 
recent things may take place. When subjects 
are in a state of abstraction or absent-minded- 
ness, a question may be asked to which they 
apparently pay no attention. Ten or fifteen 
minutes later they will suddenly look up and 



16 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

answer. The whole question was there, but at 
the moment it was asked, the person was in this 
state of abstraction and there was an immediate 
dissociation of the question, it became split off 
from the main stream of consciousness. When 
the state of abstraction was terminated a syn- 
thesis took place, the question became con- 
scious where before it was subconscious. Here 
we have an example of the conservation 
of an absent-minded experience, although the 
conserved experience was dissociated. As will 
be shown later, suggestibility is increased in 
normal abstraction or absent-mindedness, a 
feature which makes it closely related to the 
artificial hypnotic states. Although absent- 
mindedness may be looked upon as a special 
condition, yet it is nothing more or less than 
a severe form of inattention or concentrated at- 
tention, as shown by the negative hallucina- 
tions which sometimes occur in this condition, 
namely, a failure to perceive what is imme- 
diately in front of the eyes. Normal forgetful- 
ness in some ways is allied to the pathological 
amnesias; absent-minded acts and apparently 
purposeless actions are simpler forms resem- 
bling the automatism of automatic writing or 
some hysterical symptoms. 

What takes place in normal absent-minded- 
ness to show that we have a state of temporary 



WHAT IS THE SUBCONSCIOUS? 17 

mental dissociation? In absent-mindedness the 
attention is focussed on one thing, either in- 
ternal or external. This focussing of attention 
narrows the field of personal consciousness and 
the portion of consciousness which lies outside 
this narrowed field is subconscious or dissoci- 
ated. In this dissociated state, many acts may 
be done automatically, such as buttoning of a 
coat, tearing up papers, etc. But all these 
automatic acts are preserved and can be revived 
later by appropriate methods. All absent- 
minded states are not dissociations, it is only 
severe grades where attention is intensely fo- 
cussed on some stimulus from without or some 
idea from within, that can be termed dissociated. 

" This duality of the mind in normal absent-minded- 
ness has been pointed out by various observers. Its 
phenomena simulate those of artificial abstraction as 
they occur in automatic writing and hysterical states. 
There is nothing surprising in this, as the term 
' absent-mindedness ' means dissociation of conscious- 
ness, a failure to perceive that which before was 
perceived and a failure to be conscious of acts intel- 
ligently performed. On the other hand, normal 
absent-mindedness is a distinctly special condition. 
We don't go about in an absent-minded state. Absent- 
minded phenomena are manifestations of the tempo- 
rary disintegration of the personal self. But here the 
significant fact, the most significant of all, should not 



18 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

be lost sight of, .that in the normal process of abstrac- 
tion we find evidence of the existence of a normal pre- 
arranged mechanism for dissociating consciousness and 
producing subconscious states." x 

Dissociation is plainly a function of the mind 
or brain as was shown above.' These normal 
dissociations are not limited to absent-minded- 
ness and forgetting of names, but may comprise' 
other phenomena of our everyday life, such as ' 
the solution of problems by the secondary con- 
sciousness during sleep, the origin of dreams 
in subconscious motives and desires, slips of 
the tongue and pen, certain apparently acci- 
dental and purposeless actions, and those tricks 
of mind called illusions of memory. Sleep and 
dreams are so important that they will be made 
the subjects of separate chapters. In a most 
interesting little volume Freud has discussed in . 
detail some of the phenomena which we have 
briefly mentioned here, under the title of the 
psychopathology of everyday life. 

Bot*h this observer and others attempt to ex- 
plain the acts of everyday life, many of which 
seem purposeless, accidental, and without rea- 
son unless carefully studied. The mechanism 
which produces disturbances in the thoughts 
and actions of normal people is identical with 

1 Morton Prince: "Problems of Abnormal Psychology." — 
Psychological Review, March-May, 1905. 



WHAT IS THE SUBCONSCIOUS? 19 

the mechanism which causes the disturbances 
in the insane and in abnormal mental dissocia- 
tion. Automatic acts may be caused by an un- 
conscious, suppressed complex. Dreams are 
frequently the manifestation of hidden desires 
or memories; the haunting of the mind by a 
popular melody resembles a pathological obses- 
sion. It is popularly supposed that most men- 
tal life is forgotten beyond recovery, but Freud 
has shown that a great deal may be recovered 
through proper devices, provided sufficient 
traces had been left in the nervous system. 

The phenomena of hypnosis and a great 
many of the phenomena of hysteria seem to be 
merely more intense and protracted states of 
this absent-mindedness or abstraction, which, 
we have shown, is a dissociation of conscious- 
ness. So we see that there is nothing super- 
normal or supernatural in these subconscious or 
dissociated manifestations, startling as some of 
these phenomena may appear. The gradations 
from the normal to the abnormal are slow; 
there is no distinct line; there is an overlapping 
of types, and one cannot say where the normal 
ends and where the abnormal begins. 

Two examples will show the presence of 
temporary subconscious phenomena in every- 
day life. In the first instance to be given it 
can be demonstrated that normal abstraction is 



20 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

a mental condition of increased suggestibility 
and thus resembles the artificially produced 
state of hypnosis. In the second case it can 
be shown that normal forgetfulness is a dissocia- 
tion of memory, allied to the pathological am- 
nesias. In common with these amnesias, it is 
possible to restore or synthetize the lost experi- 
ence because the experience is really not lost, 
but is present in the subconscious. 

In the first case, three men were members 
of a party of seven seated at dinner. Dessert 
was being served and some of the party were 
already supplied. One of the members of the 
dinner party, Professor H., was talking to an- 
other member, Mr. G., in a low tone, and the 
latter was listening very intently. The dessert 
consisted of chocolate pie and squash pie, and 
as some had already been brought in Mr. G. 
had time to decide which he preferred. Mrs. 
R., who was sitting beside Mr. G., inquired 
which he would have. The latter was so ab- 
stracted in the conversation, that apparently he 
did not hear, and even on a repetition of the 
question, he gave no reply. Meanwhile another 
member of the party, in a spirit of jest, spoke 
softly to Mrs. R., but in such a manner that 
Mr. G. could hear, and said, " Mr. G. always 
takes chocolate pie." Immediately Mr. G. 
quickly replied, " Chocolate pie, please." This 



WHAT IS THE SUBCONSCIOUS? 21 

was done because it was well known to the 
other members of the party that Mr. G. had a 
profound distaste for chocolate pie. Meanwhile 
the waiter had brought the dessert (chocolate 
pie) to Mr. G., who by that time had finished 
his conversation with Professor H. Then, as if 
just coming to himself, Mr. G. turned to his 
companion and said, "Who said chocolate pie? 
I wanted the other kind." 

In the second case, a woman had given a 
check for a certain amount. For certain rea- 
sons, some two years later, it became necessary 
for her to recall the signature on the check, 
the exact date and place and the bank on which 
the check was drawn. She remembered that she 
had read the check carefully over at the time 
it was given to her, but two years later she 
could not recall by any amount of conscious 
effort, the date on the check. When she was 
placed in a state of abstraction by listening 
to a monotonous sound stimulus, in a few min- 
utes all the data on the check were recalled. She 
was now able to recollect the exact date, the 
name of the bank, the name of the person to 
whom the check was payable, the number of the 
check, and finally the signature. By means of 
crystal gazing it was also possible to produce a 
vivid visual hallucination of the check. 



22 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

4. How the Subconscious Becomes Diseased 

Passing from the consideration of the sub- 
conscious as a mere curiosity of the psychologi- 
cal laboratory to a condition of specific disease, 
we also pass from a comparatively simple set 
of problems to a complex and much discussed 
field. Here we shall find the theoiy that sub- 
conscious activity is not mechanical but reason- 
ing, or what is called the psychological theory, 
more helpful and more easily applicable than 
in the simple forms. 

When the subconscious assumes extraordinary 
and painful attributes it may be said to be 
diseased, and then exhibits in a marked manner 
the independent or split-off existence which has 
been noted above, so much so that the entire 
range of such diseases are often included within 
the term dissociation. In these cases, it is not 
only the dissociation, but also the continued ac- 
tivity of the dissociated portion of consciousness, 
which causes the mischief. 

What is the cause of this dissociation and 
why does it at one time simply produce an 
absent-mindedness and at another time an hys- 
teria? When absent-mindedness becomes pro- 
tracted we have hysteria, and when normal fail- 
ure to recall a name takes in the events of a 
period, we have amnesia. Dissociation remains 



WHAT IS THE SUBCONSCIOUS? 23 

normal, therefore, so long as it is transitory. 
When the dissociation is prolonged and assumes 
a continued activity, then it becomes abnormal. 
It is probably this fact above all others which 
determines whether a subconscious process be 
normal or pathological. Concerning the exact 
cause of this splitting of the mind, we are 
in the dark. We know that exhaustion, cer- 
tain emotions, and certain experimental devices 
cause a mental dissociation, but exactly how 
this dissociation is brought about, abnormal 
psychology cannot at present offer a final 
solution. 

Janet interprets the abnormal phenomena, 
applying them more particularly to hysteria 
and hysterical dissociations, as being merely a 
chronic form of absent-mindedness, and con- 
cludes that clear-cut phenomena, analogous to 
the subconsciousness of hysteria, are infinitely 
rare in a normal mind. In general he states, 
that when these normal dissociations " are really 
noted by competent observers, they cannot but 
be regarded as unhealthy accidents of a more 
or less transient character, and of a somewhat 
sinister omen." Breuer and Freud, on the con- 
trary, state that severe dissociations are sec- 
ondary to the development of what they term 
the " hypnoidal state " which is a condition of 
abstraction in the normal sense. When an un- 



24 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

healthy mental accident takes place in this hyp- 
noidal state, there arises an inability to form 
a synthesis with the normal consciousness. 
Hence the abnormal state tends to be indefi- 
nitely prolonged, producing a pathological men- 
tal condition, sometimes hysteria, at other times 
recurrent automatic ideas called obsessions. 
" Abnormal psychology, then, points strongly 
to the conclusion that there is a normal physio- 
logical dissociating mechanism which is the func- 
tion of the nervous organization. It is this 
mechanism which brings about such spontaneous 
normal states as absent-mindedness, sleep, nor- 
mal induced states like hypnosis; and through 
its perversions the dissociations underlying ab- 
normal phenomena." x 

A feeling on the part of the subject, that the 
personality has disappeared or has changed from 
the normal to the abnormal, is often an evidence 
of mental dissociation. This Dr. Jekyll and 
Mr. Hyde existence may occur in many func- 
tional conditions, such as neurasthenia, psychas- 
thenia, and in certain cases of delirium or mental 
depression. In hysteria or multiple personality, 
the new personality may lead an independent 
existence. 

Probably the most marked forms of func- 

1 Morton Prince: "Problems of Abnormal Psychology." — The 
Psychological Review, 1905. 



WHAT IS THE SUBCONSCIOUS? 25 

tional neuroses are caused by the action of 
abnormal ideas or emotions. These ideas and 
emotions are usually present in groups (com- 
plexes) and are linked together as abnormal as- 
sociations. All complexes are not abnormal, 
however, for the formation of normal complexes 
forms the basis of all our educational processes. 
Habits and highly skilled movements are com- 
plexes which are the result of frequent repeti- 
tion. They are really unconscious memories, 
having an automatic action. 

Now these stored-up complexes, whether con- 
scious or dissociated, may influence the entire 
psycho-physical life. They may appear in 
dreams but in a fantastic and distorted man- 
ner; they may produce hysterical phenomena, or 
the dormant complex, if stimulated, may cause 
recurrent attacks of fear or obsessions, or it 
may produce certain inhibitions of thought as in 
the association tests. Sometimes, too, the com- 
plex or even an isolated idea related to the 
complex, may produce changes in the electrical 
resistance of the body or certain physiological 
effects, such as an acceleration of the pulse 
rate. The stored-up emotional complex is dis- 
tinctly the most important factor in abnormal 
psychology. Complexes may be formed in 
various ways, in everyday life, in dreams, or 
in states of abstraction. 



26 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

All stored-up complexes may either produce 
themselves spontaneously or can be artificially 
reproduced by means of special methods. This 
artificial reproduction of the complex is at the 
basis of all psycho-analysis. So we see that this 
reproduction may have a beneficial effect be- 
cause once the complex is discovered it can usu- 
ally be rendered harmless. If complexes were 
always present in memory it would be unneces- 
sary to dig for them through psychological 
methods. But they are not always present in 
memory; in fact, a complex may become dis- 
sociated. Dissociated complexes are removed 
from the censorship of the conscious mind and, 
therefore, act in an abnormal manner. Under 
conditions which are not at present clearly 
understood, this complex may suddenly begin 
to act. So we see that this dissociated state 
may tend to become automatic, and it is this 
automatism which gives rise to many pathologi- 
cal states of consciousness. 

All psychotherapy is based upon one or more 
of these fundamental principles. If there is a 
state of dissociation the obvious remedy is syn- 
thesis, as can be shown in many hysterical mani- 
festations. If certain experiences are stored up, 
but cannot be spontaneously reproduced, then 
we must have recourse to some form of artifi- 
cial reproduction. In this way we can fill up 



WHAT IS THE SUBCONSCIOUS? 27 

the blanks in the mind which are caused by cer- 
tain types of functional amnesia. If a com- 
plex had an automatic or independent activity, 
then an effort should be made to bring about a 
control and finally an inhibition of this auto- 
matic state. 

From the evidence that can be gathered, from 
both normal and abnormal mental life, it seems 
that before a mental state can be termed disso- 
ciated or subconscious, it must possess several 
qualities. First this mental state must have 
an automatic activity. Second, it must act in- 
dependently from the rest of consciousness. 
Third, there must be an absence of awareness 
for this mental state. Fourth, there must be an 
impossibility of voluntarily reproducing the 
mental state in consciousness. Fifth, it ought 
to be possible to reproduce the detached men- 
tal state by an artificial method. A dissociation 
may be normal, as in absent-mindedness; it 
may be artificially produced, as in hypnosis; or 
it may be abnormal, as in hysteria. 



CHAPTER II 

AUTOMATIC WRITING AND CRYSTAL GAZING 

What is automatic writing? It can be best 
understood by giving a brief account of a series 
of elaborate experiments carried out by Mrs. 
Verrall. 1 The phenomena of automatic writing 
were Mrs. Verrall's personal products. She 
carried out a long series of experiments, some 
322 in number, upon herself, and obtained as 
many " consciously " written pieces of script. 
That she was already accustomed to having her 
subconscious mental life " tapped," so to speak, 
is expressly stated. In 1889-1892 she had 
recorded and later published a series of obser- 
vations on herself in crystal gazing. She al- 
lowed this faculty to remain dormant, however, 
until after repeated attempts, she found her- 
self able to produce automatic writing in 1901. 
The method employed to develop the faculty 
is instructive. She says, " On January 17, 1901, 
I spent a quarter of an hour or more in sitting 
perfectly still in a dim light with a pencil in my 

1 Mrs. A. W. Verrall: "On a Series of Automatic Writings." — 
Proc. Soc. for Psychical Research, Vol. XX, October, 1906. 

28 



AUTOMATIC WRITING 29 

hand, with a view to giving myself the oppor- 
tunity of recognizing any impression that I 
might have. I continued this daily. Unless my 
attention was actively engaged in some other 
direction, the pencil did not move; if I tried 
to occupy my attention with reading, the pencil 
merely produced some of the words of the book 
or occasionally traced characters resembling 
those on a brass table on which the pencil and 
paper lay." These attempts were continued 
daily for about two weeks and only three at- 
tempts were made during the following month. 
Then, on resuming the experiments, the first suc- 
cessful result was obtained. A strong impulse to 
change the position of the pencil was felt, and, 
" in obedience to the impulse I took the pencil 
between my thumb and first finger and after a 
few nonsense words, it wrote rapidly in Latin. 
On the first occasion, March 5, 1901, my hand 
wrote about eighty words almost entirely in 
Latin, but though the words are consecutive 
and seem to make phrases, and though phrases 
seem intelligible, there is no general sense in 
the passage." 

These early attempts resulted in mere rub- 
bish, but by continued " practice," the writing 
became the logical expression of ideas. " Whole 
phrases were intelligible," until they finally de- 
veloped into elaborate compositions, written in- 



30 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

differently in English, Latin, and Greek, the 
experimenter having an excellent command of 
the two latter languages. Rude drawings were 
also included in these phenomena. Curiously 
enough, although Mrs. Verrall was perfectly 
familiar with French, and constantly dreamed 
in this language and was apt to use it absolutely 
in imaginary conversation with herself, there 
was no trace of this language in the script. The 
subject was entirely unaware of what her hand 
was writing, although she was apt to perceive 
a word or two, but never understood whether 
it made sense with what went before. ' Under 
these circumstances," the report states, " it will 
be seen that though I am aware at the moment 
of writing what language my hand is using, 
when the script is finished I often cannot say 
till I read it what language has been used, as 
the recollection of the words passes away with 
extreme rapidity." In each experiment, as a 
rule, the writing ceased after a sheet of paper 
was covered, that is from 70 to 90 words, but 
as many as 265 have been produced. The con- 
tent of the writing embraced all sorts of topics; 
for instance, allusions, descriptions of persons 
or places, exhortations, messages, reminiscences, 
anecdotes, philosophical and quasimathematical 
disquisitions, enigmatic or oracular sayings, etc. 
On occasions, Latin and Greek verse was pro- 



AUTOMATIC WRITING 31 

duced, although the subject disclaimed normally 
any ability to write English verse. 

One interesting point mentioned is the influ- 
ence of the content of writing upon the writer, 
notwithstanding her ignorance of that content. 
" Thus, once I found the tears running down 
my face when the writing was over; the con- 
tents apparently alluded to two friends of mine 
who had died under tragic circumstances." 
On another occasion her left hand, which was 
not writing, was very cold and she had a recol- 
lection of feeling a breeze on her left side. 
These observations are in accord with similar 
phenomena frequently described in abnormal 
mental conditions when subconscious ideas pro- 
duce emotional feelings in the subject, whether 
of exaltation, depression, or fear. In the great 
majority of occasions while writing, Mrs. Ver- 
rall was in a " perfectly normal condition," al- 
though often she felt sleepy and a few times 
lost consciousness of her surroundings. Tele- 
pathic experiments, with the avowed object of 
determining whether information unknown to 
the writer could be conveyed by automatic writ- 
ing, were practically unsuccessful. The failure 
of these telepathic experiments is of particular 
value in freeing automatic writing from any 
supernormal interpretation and placing it be- 
yond doubt on the basis of the reproduction of 



32 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

past experiences or fabrications founded on 
these experiences. 

Sometimes there were concomitant phenom- 
ena, such as a " sudden impulse " to write (21 
out of 306 occasions) and a feeling of fatigue 
and discomfort in the right arm. There was, 
however, no anesthesia of the writing hand and 
none of that intense abstraction, with its sys- 
tematized anesthesia of all the sensory and 
motor functions, which has been observed in 
hysterical automatism. In these hysterical cases, 
however, the state of abstraction may be so 
deep that little or nothing is left of the wak- 
ing consciousness. Under these circumstances 
a kind of a new alternating personalit}^ has 
been formed and it is this new personality 
which does the writing. The real self thus be- 
comes a mere narrow automatism, perhaps al- 
most completely asleep, while the secondary self 
is active, wide awake, and intelligent. This 
production of automatic writing while the sub- 
ject was plunged into a state of deep abstrac- 
tion, was found in the Beauchamp case and in 
Janet's case of Mme. B. To a certain extent 
it was also present in the Lowell case of am- 
nesia, although here the writing consisted of 
mere scraps of dissociated experiences. 

Automatic writing is a phenomenon of great 
experimental value. It is one of the simplest 



AUTOMATIC WRITING S3 

forms of mental dissociation, and thus through 
it can be easily studied such questions as whether 
we are dealing with mere mechanical repetitions 
of previous experiences or with activities accom- 
panied by thought, and also whether these sim- 
ple states are abortive, alternating personalities. 
Automatic writing also shows how automatism 
and independent activity enter into states of 
mental dissociation. Thus we have in auto- 
matic writing not only a device for tapping the 
subconscious, but also a simple form of experi- 
mental evidence for the analysis of many dis- 
puted points. 

To interpret automatic writing as a mere 
physiological nervous process without ideation 
is incompatible with the observed facts, be- 
cause not only are records of previous experi- 
ences reproduced, but also elaborate fabrications, 
mathematical reasoning, arithmetical problems, 
moods, feelings, and emotions. Sometimes a 
kind of an abortive secondary or alternating 
personality will make its appearance, on other 
occasions an alleged new language may be 
fabricated, such as in Hyslop's case of Mrs. 
Smead and Flournoy's case of Mile. Helene 
Smith. In both of these latter, there were 
alleged communications with the planet Mars, 
with the formation of an elaborate Martian 
language. 



34 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

In automatic writing the subject may or may 
not be aware of what the writing hand is pro- 
ducing, but all cases show automatism and 
independent activity. The test of automatic 
writing is not the sense of awareness, but rather 
the independent activity of the consciousness 
that is doing the writing. Automatic writing 
may occur in a number of conditions in which 
there is a splitting of consciousness or in which 
the mind of the subject lends itself to an easy 
dissociation. Automatic writers may show other 
signs of mental disintegration (such as ciystal 
gazing), and it has also been found to occur 
in multiple personality and in certain forms of 
functional amnesia. In both these latter the 
writing reproduces experiences which the sub- 
ject cannot voluntarily recall to consciousness 
as memory. Yet the ability to do automatic 
writing is not always an evidence of disease, as 
the phenomenon may occur and be increased 
through practice in perfectly normal and well- 
balanced individuals. 

Now in Mrs. Verrall's experiments, the con- 
tent of the writing did not represent mechanical 
repetition of previous experiences, such as might 
be done by physiological automatisms of nervous 
processes without accompanying thought, but 
there were often elaborate compositions of an 
original character. The data offered by the au- 



AUTOMATIC WRITING 35 

thor in these observations are of extreme value 
for the study of subconscious phenomena, in that 
they show the possibilities of the splitting of 
consciousness and the formation of large organ- 
ized systems of subconscious thought in healthy 
individuals. They are examples of subconscious 
activities in everyday life, occurring in subjects 
who are free from the manifestations of any 
disease. 

Mrs. Verrall's data, therefore, contradict the 
view maintained by some academic psychol- 
ogists that subconscious phenomena, like tics 
and choreiform movements, are produced sim- 
ply by physiological nerve processes without 
thought. They also contribute to an under- 
standing of abnormal conditions, for with these 
normal phenomena in mind we can readily 
understand that when the subconscious ideas 
have an undesirable character, like fearful or 
horrifying or repugnant ideas or experiences, 
they may influence the personal consciousness 
and the whole organism unfavorably and pro- 
duce abnormal phenomena such as occur in 
hysteria. This was well seen in the hysterical 
condition of Miss F., who forms the subject of 
Chapter VIII. Here a horrifying experience 
became detached from the personal conscious- 
ness and caused a series of hysterical attacks. 
It was only when a synthesis of these detached 



36 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

experiences was formed with the waking con- 
sciousness that the attacks ceased. 

Now, in all Mrs. Verrall's experiments, there 
was nothing to show that the content of the 
automatic writing did not represent the previous 
knowledge and experiences of the subject. The 
most pertinent example of pure fabrications of 
a highly imaginative character occurring in 
automatic writing is seen in the " Martian 
Cycle " of Flournoy's celebrated case of Mile. 
Helene Smith. 1 Here the alleged supernormal 
knowledge of the trance personality was as 
much fabrication as the communications them- 
selves. For instance, in Mrs. Verrall's account, 
the fact that allusions to Neoplatonic phrase- 
ology appeared in the script before these writ- 
ers were read, can well be explained on the basis 
of a hasty but forgotten glances at their works, 
or even at some forgotten essay. 

Much that has been stated concerning the 
mechanism of automatic writing can be applied 
to crystal gazing. In spite of the part played 
by crystal gazing in necromancy and Eastern 
mysticism, nothing can be reproduced as a crys- 
tal vision which has not already been a part of 
personal experience, although this experience may 
have been dissociated. In the production of these 
visions the subject gazes into a crystal globe 

a See Flournoy: "From India to the Planet Mars," pp. 139-274. 



AUTOMATIC WRITING 37 

and at the same time attempts to keep the mind 
a blank and free from external stimuli. The 
state of abstraction thus produced in crystal 
gazing " taps " the subconscious experiences in 
the same manner that they are tapped through 
automatic writing. After a short time isolated 
or complex pictures appear in the crystal. 
These are usually very vague at first, but later 
become more distinct. Like automatic writing, 
crystal visions may take place in normal indi- 
viduals, although they are produced with greater 
ease in those persons who have an abnormal in- 
stability or who are victims of a pathological 
disintegration of the personality. In the Beau- 
champ case, the crystal visions threw consider- 
able light on the experiences of the various per- 
sonalities. In one of our cases (Mrs. Y. 1 ), it 
served as a device for reproducing some of the 
incidents of the split personality. 

Mrs. Y. showed four multiple hypnotic states 
for which she was amnesic in her waking condi- 
tion. The crystal visions in this patient were 
revivals of past experiences. Some of these ex- 
periences the patient remembered; others could 
only be recalled in hypnosis. For instance, in 
one of the hypnotic states for which there was 
no memory on awakening, the emotional reac- 
tion was one of hatred and disgust. When a 

1 See chapter on " The Splitting of a Personality." 



38 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

crystal vision of the same experience was pro- 
duced, the emotional reaction was the same. It 
seems that whatever device was used for syn- 
thesis, either hypnosis or crystal gazing, the 
reproduced memories were associated with cer- 
tain emotions. These emotions had attached 
themselves to the dissociated experiences, and 
when these experiences were revived by either 
of the methods, the associated emotions likewise 
appear. The following is a partial record of 
the crystal visions belonging to dissociated 
experiences in the life of the subject, the de- 
tails of which were given in hypnosis and not 
remembered on awakening. 

" I see my husband choking me, that terrible man 
choking me, with his hand around my throat." 

" I see Dr. J. chatting with me. I am in his office. 
It is so strange I am sitting there and seem to be in a 
hurry." 

" I see my brother, a surgeon in the British army. 
He is just home from Burmah. He is in a gray suit 
and standing beside me and my sister. It is trimmed 
with red and he has all his decorations. The scene is 
on a beach." 

The ease with which crystal visions were pro- 
duced in Miss Beauchamp, was one of the evi- 
dences of the facility with which disintegration 
took place in this subject. One of the inci- 



AUTOMATIC WRITING 39 

dents offers a good example of the manner in 
which subconscious experiences may be repro- 
duced as crystal visions. 1 The report follows, 
Chris and Miss Beauchamp being different per- 
sonalities of the same subject. Chris or Sally 
was mischievous, fond of fun, and playing prac- 
tical jokes; while Miss Beauchamp was quiet, 
sedate, and demure. 

In the course of the interview of May 1, reported in 
the last chapter, Chris remarked that she smelled the 
odor of a cigarette which I had been smoking. I of- 
fered her one. Delighted at the idea, she accepted, but 
smoked the cigarette very clumsily. The fact that 
smoking is something absolutely repugnant to Miss 
Beauchamp's taste added to Chris's enjoyment. Her 
manner was that of a child in mischief. 

" Won't she be cross ? " she laughed. 

"Why?" 

" She is not in the habit of smoking cigarettes. I 
shall smoke though." Miss Beauchamp when 
awakened, entirely ignorant of what she had been doing, 
complained of a bitter taste in her mouth, but could 
not identify it, and I did not enlighten her. At the 
next interview I remarked to Chris, " Wasn't it funny 
to see Miss Beauchamp when she tasted the tobacco in 
her mouth, and did not know what it was ? " 

Chris laughed and thought it was a good joke. " Yes, 
she thought you had been putting quinine in her mouth, 
but did not dare ask her." This remark, later verified 

1 "The Dissociation of a Personality," pp. 54-56. 



40 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

by Miss Beauchamp, was one of many which showed 
Chris had knowledge of Miss Beauchamp's thoughts. 

The sequel to this episode was amusing. At a later 
period I was engaged in making an experimental study 
of visions, and for the purpose had Miss Beauchamp 
(BI) look into a glass wherein she saw various visions 
of one kind and another. That is to say, the phe- 
nomena of so-called crystal visions were easily pro- 
duced, and she proved an excellent subject. These 
visions were, for the most part, reproductions of past 
experiences. In one experiment she was horrified and 
astonished on looking into the globe to see the scene of 
the cigarette rehearsed in all its details. She saw her- 
self sitting on a sofa — the identical sofa on which she 
was at the moment seated — smoking cigarettes. Her 
eyes, in the vision, were closed. (Chris's eyes were al- 
ways closed at this time.) It was amusing to watch 
the expression of astonishment and chagrin with which 
she beheld herself in this Bohemian act. She indig- 
nantly repudiated the fact, declared it was not true, 
and that she had never smoked a cigarette in her life. 
The childlike expression on her face in the vision — 
Chris's face — which she characterized as " foolish " 
also annoyed her. 

In another case of the automatic writing, the 
first efforts of the subject produced only scat- 
tered and disconnected words. By practice, how- 
ever, the ability to do the writing increased, and 
the productions became more complex, until she 
was able to carry on communications with an 



AUTOMATIC WRITING 41 

alleged control. In this subject, there was 
neither abstraction nor a trance state and the 
sense of awareness during the period of writing, 
was almost complete. The thoughts seemed to 
precede the writing by the fraction of a second, 
but they were automatic and independent of the 
subject. She had no control over these thoughts 
or over the movements of the hand which was 
doing the writing. It was very curious to watch 
this subject during this process. The eyes 
were widely opened as she watched the pencil 
in the moving hand. Sometimes the writing 
was faint, but on other occasions the hand wrote 
rapidly and with such great force that the 
pencil point became frequently broken or the 
sheet of paper torn. Under some conditions 
mere marks and scrawls would be produced; at 
other times, words and sentences. As a rule, 
however, even the sentences were rather vague 
in their meaning, while any elaborate fabrica- 
tions were entirely absent. The subject was 
very easily hypnotized and on several occasions, 
while in a normal condition, she spontaneously 
experienced a sense of unreality. These phe- 
nomena in connection with the automatic writ- 
ing were evidences of the ease with which 
mental dissociation took place in this subject. 



CHAPTER III 

TESTING THE EMOTIONS 

When we approach the study of the emo- 
tions, physiology and psychology become in- 
separable. Before the mental accompaniments 
of the various emotions can be understood, we 
must have a clear comprehension of the physio- 
logical or physical aspects of these mental states. 
While this chapter will be devoted principally 
to the abnormal aspects of the emotions, yet it 
will be necessary to give a summary of the 
various theories of normal emotional processes, 
to which will be added the more recent experi- 
mental researches on the question, such as the 
electrical phenomena (the psycho-galvanic re- 
flex) and a modification of these experiments, 
namely, the pulse reaction tests. Like sleep, 
the emotions are instinctive and are inseparable 
from our everyday psychic existence. As a 
preliminary, there can be applied to the emo- 
tions the same important question as can be 
applied to sleep, namely, at what step in evolu- 
tion did the emotions first appear? This ques- 
tion is more easily propounded than answered, 

42 



TESTING THE EMOTIONS 43 

for the emotions are very complex phenomena 
and enter into all the phases of our every- 
day existence. In animals, possessing a well- 
organized nervous system, well-marked emo- 
tional expressions occur, yet these seem to be 
absent from the lower organisms, in which the 
nervous system is either entirely absent or is 
limited to a mere collection of ganglion cells. 
If this be true, then the manifestations of the 
emotions must have arisen at some phase of 
natural selection and possibly the physical ex- 
pressions of certain emotions were a strong fac- 
tor in the early struggles for existence. Since 
emotional expressions require a certain active 
state of consciousness, it may be said in general, 
although, of course, this statement is open to 
certain modifications and corrections, that the 
emotions can only take place in organisms whose 
nervous system has reached such a state of 
development that this active consciousness pos- 
sesses a certain intensity. Emotions, therefore, 
would be completely absent from all organisms 
whose nervous system was in a very rudi- 
mentary condition, incompletely developed in 
those animals possessing a moderately complex 
brain, and reaching their highest expression in 
the higher animals and man, where the nervous 
system has assumed a great complexity of 
structure. 



44. EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

Emotional reactions are highfy complex func- 
tions of the nervous system and their intensity 
and complexity are parallel with the develop- 
ment of the brain. While there seem to be 
no special brain centres for the emotions, yet 
if the brain is removed or profoundly diseased, 
as in certain states of dementia and in some 
physiological experiments, the emotions either 
pass into simple reflex acts or are entirely 
absent. This is well seen in the emotional 
apathy of the terminal stages of such mental 
diseases as general paralysis and dementia 
precox. 

The higher animals, such as the cat, dog, cer- 
tain birds, monkeys, and anthropoid apes, not 
only have a wide range of emotions, but the 
physiological expression of these emotions is 
almost as graphic as in man. Of course, 
none of these animals can express the finer 
emotions, such as meditation, laughter, blushing, 
modesty, etc., but the more primitive and ele- 
mentary emotional expressions, such as anger, 
fear, and surprise are as well developed in some 
of the higher vertebrates as in man. Whether 
or not the accompanying mental states are as 
intense, we have no means of judging, but cer- 
tainly if the physical expression of these states 
can be taken as an indication, they must be so in 
every particular, although in animals we are 



TESTING THE EMOTIONS 45 

hopelessly cut off from any introspective 
evidence. 

Taking the emotions in their widest sense, as 
comprising both the physiological symptoms 
and their mental accompaniments, we arrive at 
the important question, — what is the cause and 
interpretation of these various manifestations? 
It is a fact of common experience that certain 
reactions of the bodily organs are characteristic 
of certain emotions, bodily manifestations which 
have been known from time immemorial and have 
pervaded the literature and art of all nations. 
These physiological accompaniments of the emo- 
tions take place in all the organs, — respiration 
becomes affected, the heart beat becomes either 
fast or slow, there is either an inhibition or an 
excitation of the secretory and mechanical fac- 
tors of the stomach and intestines, the muscular 
system changes in its tension, and even the skin 
reacts in various ways. The sight or even the 
idea of a tempting morsel of food will " make 
the mouth water," while fear inhibits the salivary 
secretion, so that an excessive dryness of the 
mouth takes place. In states of bravery the 
limbs are held tense by the muscular contrac- 
tions; — in fear, the limbs tremble, the heart- 
beat becomes accelerated, the " hair of the flesh 
stands up." Mental states of anxiety or ap- 
prehension frequently accompany pathological 



46 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

states of rapid heart reaction, known in medicine 
as paroxysmal tachycardia. 

We see, then, that the emotions possess two 
distinct phenomena, — the physical or physio- 
logical, relating to the viscera, and the psychical 
or state of cerebral action. Some authorities 
state that emotion begins as a mental state, 
and it is this mental state which influences the 
various organs and the vascular apparatus. 
For them, the emotions are primary cerebral 
reactions, the visceral expressions being purely 
secondary. This theory is supported by certain 
important facts. If the hemispheres of the 
brain are removed in an animal (Goltz's experi- 
ments) it will not show the slightest vestige 
of emotional reaction. Even the coarser emo- 
tions, such as anger and pleasure, will be absent. 
In states of dementia or mental enfeeblement 
and in certain other mental diseases, the finer 
emotions are likewise absent. In other words, 
there is a condition of what has been called 
emotional apathy or emotional atrophy. The 
opposite view, which may be termed the periph- 
eral theory of the emotions, as held by James, 
Lange, and Sergi, states that the mental state 
of emotion is secondary to the actions of the 
viscera, particularly the circulatory organs. 
These organs are thrown into a state of activity 
and excitation through certain peculiar stimuli. 



TESTING THE EMOTIONS 47 

Professor James says, " Our natural way of 
thinking about these coarser emotions is that 
the mental perception of some fact excites the 
mental affection called the emotion and that this 
latter state of mind gives rise to the bodily ex- 
pression. My theory, on the contrary, is that 
the bodily changes follow directly the percep- 
tion of the exciting fact, and that our feeling 
of the same changes as they occur is the emo- 
tion. Common sense says, we lose our fortune, 
are sorry and weep; we meet a bear, are fright- 
ened and run; we are insulted by a rival, are 
angry and strike. . . The more rational state- 
ment is that we feel sorry because we cry, angry 
because we strike, afraid because we tremble, and 
not that we cry, strike, or tremble, because we are 
sorry, angry, or fearful, as the case may be. . . 
If we fancy some strong emotion and then try 
to abstract from our consciousness of it all the 
feelings of its bodily symptoms, we find we have 
nothing left behind, no ' mind stuff ' out of 
which the emotion can be constituted, and that 
a cold and mental state of intellectual percep- 
tion is all that remains." * In order to dis- 
prove this hypothesis, Sherrington has shown, 2 

1 William James: "The Principles of Psychology," Vol. II, 
pp. 442 et seq. 

2 C. S. Sherrington: "The Integrative Action of the Nervous 
System." 



48 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

that if an experiment be performed on an animal 
in such a manner so as to remove all sensation 
of the bodily organs, the skin and muscles, upon 
which Professor James lays so much stress in 
his peripheral theory of the emotions, that the 
animal thus experimented upon shows all grades 
of emotional expression. Here the brain was 
left intact but the peripheral sensations were 
obliterated, yet no alteration occurred in the 
emotional character of the animal. Further- 
more, the changes in the electrical resistance of 
the body under the influence of certain emotions 
as measured by a delicate galvanometer and also 
the emotional fluctuations in the pulse rate, force 
us back to the fact that the emotions are central 
and not peripheral in origin. To the ordinary 
individual, this central theory of the emotions is 
the most logical one; he trembles because he 
is afraid, he strikes because he is angry, 
etc. 

It has also been shown, by the investigations 
of the Russian physiologist Pawlow, 1 how the 
secretions of the stomach and intestines are 
largely influenced by the mental state of the 
animals on which he experimented. The results 
obtained have also been confirmed in experi- 
ments on man. Gastric and salivary secretion 

1 See the interesting book by J. P. Pawlow: "The Work of the 
Digestive Glands," 1902. 



TESTING THE EMOTIONS 49 

took place in dogs when the animals were 
tempted with food, but not with indifferent sub- 
stances, such as stones or pieces of rubber, 
whereas threatening a dog with a whip entirely 
arrested gastric secretion. These experiments 
showed that the stimulus of a pleasant emotion, 
associated with food, called into activity the 
secretion of the gastric and salivary glands, 
while the depressing emotion of fear had an 
exactly opposite, inhibitory influence. It is a 
matter of common observation how the sight or 
even the abstract idea of an appetizing, tempting 
morsel of food will make the mouth water, while 
the states of fear, and also in the pathological 
fear neuroses, an opposite condition takes place, 
the secretion of saliva is inhibited and a dryness 
of the mouth results. 

Furthermore, Cannon has shown, in some in- 
vestigations on the movements of the stomach 
and intestines in animals, the intimate relation- 
ship existing between emotional states and the 
mechanical factors of digestion. 

" Any signs of emotional disturbance, even the rest- 
lessness and emotional mewing, which may be taken to 
indicate uneasiness and discomfort, were accompanied 
in the cat by total cessation of the segmenting move- 
ments of the small intestines, as well as complete quies- 
cence of the gastric mechanism. During more than 
an hour of continuous watching such signs of anxiety 



50 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

have been attended by entire inactivity of every part 
of the alimentary canal." 

Studies along these lines are of value in the 
interpretation of pathological effects of certain 
emotions upon the gastro-intestinal functions of 
man, and they throw considerable light upon the 
visceral expressions of some of the fear neuroses. 
Such investigations help to explain the mys- 
terious effect of certain psychical processes upon 
the body. The various publications of Pawlow 
had already pointed out the influences of mental 
states in animals upon the secretions and motor 
power of both the stomach and intestines. Ob- 
servations in man have shown the same phenom- 
ena to occur as the result of certain emotional 
conditions. Cannon does not restrict the word 
emotions to violent affective states, but uses the 
term in a wider, popular sense, as including all 
affective experiences. The emotions precede the 
bodily change, the nervous connections of the 
viscera acting merely as conduction paths. It 
was demonstrated by Cannon, that if these nerv- 
ous connections were severed, mental excitement 
caused no inhibitory effect upon the movements 
of the stomach or intestines. Pawlow also 
showed that if the nervous connections of the 
stomach were severed, there was no flow of 
gastric juice in his so-called sham feeding experi- 



TESTING THE EMOTIONS 51 

ments. If we take these physiological investiga- 
tions (Sherrington, Pawlow, Cannon), as the 
basis of a theory, it would seem to follow that 
the visceral expressions of the emotions were 
secondary to the psychical state. 

Both the motor power and secretory activity 
of the alimentary canal are largely dependent 
upon the nature of the excitation in the nervous 
system. Normal secretion is favored by pleas- 
urable sensations; unpleasant feelings, such as 
fright and rage, are accompanied not only by 
a failure of secretion, but also by total cessation 
of the movements of the stomach and intestine. 
The sight of food to a hungry subject causes a 
flow of gastric juice. The inhibitory result of 
emotional states can persist long after the cessa- 
tion of the exciting condition. Many of the 
abnormal motor and secretory digestive dis- 
turbances of man are caused by the emotional 
state of the subject. These physiological experi- 
ments show how profoundly the mental state 
may affect favorably or unfavorably, not only 
the secretions but also the movements of the 
stomach and intestines. 

We are now prepared to briefly discuss the 
more exact methods of detecting the emotions, 
methods which not only have the qualitative 
value of giving us a finer insight into the mental 
side of the feelings, but which also have a certain 



52 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

quantitative value. In other words, we are able 
to measure the emotions the same way as by 
other methods we can measure the depth of 
sleep or the intensity of a sensation of sound, 
light, or pain. These newer methods no longer 
make us dependent on the coarser bodily ex- 
pressions of feelings, such as blushing when 
we are ashamed, crying when we are in grief, 
or trembling when we are afraid. Yet in many 
cases the shame, grief, or fear may be sup- 
pressed by the subject and show no outward 
manifestations. Further, these feelings may be 
connected with a special episode or experi- 
ence which the subject is anxious to hide for 
fear of detection, or purposely conceals, be- 
cause even the thinking of the experience may 
be mentally painful. We shall see later how 
large a part these " strangulated emotions " 
play in the genesis of certain hysterical mani- 
festations. How then are we to detect these 
hidden suppressed emotions, when we have no 
gross bodily symptoms to guide us and give 
us a clue? How are we to know that cer- 
tain words which we speak, or certain incidents 
to which we may refer, arouse in the mind 
of the subject an emotional meaning? What 
is the effect of this aroused emotion upon the 
finer physiological processes of the body or upon 
the actions of the mind? It is just here 



TESTING THE EMOTIONS 53 

that experimental psychology comes to our 
rescue. 

Recent investigations on the emotions have 
furnished us with exact methods of psycho- 
physical research in this direction. 1 In states of 
abstraction, produced by having a reclining sub- 
ject listen to a monotonous sound stimulus, such 
as the beating of a metronome, there results 
after a time a lowering of the pulse rate. This 
lowered or rest pulse rate remains permanent, so 
long as the subject continues in this quiescent 
mental state. If, while he is in this condition, 
the subject be given certain abstract problems 
to solve, or certain startling and painful stimuli 
be used, or if he be made to think of indifferent 
words, the pulse rate remains unchanged. The 
condition of mental serenity in the abstract state 
is unaltered. [See Fig. I.] On the contrary, 
if the subject be asked to recall individual 
emotional experiences or to think of isolated 
test words having a direct association or rela- 
tion to these experiences, there results an almost 
immediate increase in the pulse rate. This in\ 
crease lasts only for a limited time, however. 
That is to say, only words or mental processes 
suggesting emotions can cause an increase in the 

*Coriat: "Certain Pulse Reactions as a Measure of the Emo- 
tions." — Journal Abnormal Psychology, Vol. IV, No. 4, 1909. 
Peterson and Jung: " Psycho-Physical Investigations with the 
Galvanometer."— Brain, Vol. XXX, 1907. 



54 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

rate of the pulse. All other words or mental 
processes remain ineffective. This is not a blind 
automatic phenomenon, however, for there seems 



\* 



** »^_ 



Fig. I. — A pulse curve in a normal subject in a state of abstrac- 
tion. In this experiment the subject was requested to do some 
problems requiring mental effort, such as ordinary mental 
calculation, or to think of ordinary words that had no per- 
sonal emotional meaning. Notice that no change took place 
in the pulse curve. It remained a straight line. The numbers 
above the curve refer to the pulse beats per minute. 

to be a selective action of the nervous mechan- 
ism controlling the heart beat, to the influence 
of certain emotions. 

A few examples taken from personal observa- 
tions will make the matter clearer. For instance, 
in a patient who was afraid to remain alone be- 
cause of an abnormal state of fear, if asked to 
think of the word alone, the pulse rate rose from 
88 to 104 per minute. An indifferent word, such 
as snow, caused no increase in the pulse rate. 
Here the word alone, through association, re- 
called to the patient's mind all the emotions of 
the pathological fears, whereas the word snow 
stimulated no emotion whatsoever. In another 
subject, who had a fear of dogs, indifferent 
words were ineffective, whereas if the subject 
were asked to think of the word dog or of words 



TESTING THE EMOTIONS 



55 




relating to this particular animal, the pulse rate 
would increase over the usual rate from 12 to 
20 per minute. [See Fig. II.] In still an- 
other patient, during a 
series of experiments, 
the test words book and 
glass were given as in- 
different stimuli. To 
my surprise each word 
caused a marked ac- 
celeration of the pulse. 
Later questioning re- 
vealed the interesting 
fact, that some time 
previously she had 
dreamed of broken 
glass, and on consulting a popular dream book, 
found that this dream signified trouble. The 
idea of trouble thus evolved as an emotion was 
woven into the patient's delusions, although 
previously she had failed to mention, in fact 
purposely concealed, these particular episodes. 
They were revealed, however, by the pulse reac- 
tions. [See Fig. III.] Thus we seem to have, 
not only a method for measuring and detecting 
known emotions, but also a method for dis- 
covering suppressed or concealed emotions, and 
furthermore, another experimental proof that the 
psychical state is the cause of the physiological 



Fig. II. — A portion of a pulse 
curve from a subject who 
had an unreasonable and 
abnormal fear of dogs. 
Note the sudden rise at 1, 
the pulse rate increasing 
from 96 to 116 beats a 
minute, when the word dog 
was mentioned. 



56 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

reaction. The pulse rate thus becomes a deli- 
cate index for the emotions. For these pulse 
reaction phenomena, the name of the psycho- 

Si 



-/S$/\^ 




I. A- 

Fig. III. — A portion of the pulse curve, from the experiments on 
the subject mentioned in the text. Note the two sudden rises 
in the curve at 1 and 2, when the words glass and book were 
used as test words. Both these words had a strong emotional 
meaning for the subject. The figures at the top of the curve 
refer to the number of pulse beats a minute. 

cardiac reflex is proposed. This reflex, which 
has been of value in the analysis of certain 
abnormal mental states, is due to the action of 
the nervous system upon the rate of the heart 
beat. 

Other experiments show these phenomena in 
a still more remarkable manner. The apparatus 
used is more complicated however, and the cause 
of the reactions not so clear. It has been 
demonstrated that if a weak electrical current be 
passed through the body from a galvanic cell, 
the subject being connected with the battery 
by means of the palms of the hands placed 
flat on a metal plate, and this current be 
measured by a delicate instrument called a gal- 
vanometer, that the emotions will cause varia- 
tions in this electrical current. These variations 



TESTING THE EMOTIONS 57 

occur particularly when words having an emo- 
tional meaning are called out to the subject, 
indifferent test words or ordinary intellectual 
processes causing no reaction whatever. [See 
Fig. IV.] The activity of the sweat glands in 




Fig. IV. — A galvanometric curve in one of Jung's cases. The 
subject was a total abstainer. Ordinary test words up to 6 
produced no effect. When the word restaurant was mentioned 
at 7, there was an immediate rise in the curve. Later the 
subject confessed that in the past he had once been arrested 
for drunkenness, and because of this occurrence he had since 
been a total abstainer. In this particular case, the word 
restaurant stimulated strong emotional memories, hence the 
electrical reaction. 

the skin is under nervous influence; changes 
in this activity through emotional disturbances 
alter the resistance of these glands, and this 
perhaps is the cause of the electrical varia- 
tions. A more recent investigation has shown 
that the galvanic phenomenon may be of mus- 
cular origin. It is of interest to note that 
in those mental conditions in which the emo- 
tions are absent, such as in the states of 
dementia, the electrical reactions are also ab- 
sent. Where the emotions are intense and 
active, as in hysteria, the electrical reactions are 



58 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

very marked and prolonged. In some pathologi- 
cal conditions, as in cases of multiple personality, 
it is not necessary that the test words relate to 
emotional states present in consciousness. Sub- 
conscious mental experiences can cause electrical 
variations in the same manner as conscious proc- 
esses, a fact which is also true of the pulse varia- 
tions. [See Fig. V.] It has also been demon- 




Fig. V. — A portion of a galvanometric curve from a case of 
multiple personality reported by Dr. Prince. The subject had 
an intense fear of cats, probably originating in an experience 
of childhood, which was revealed through automatic writing. 
Here a subconscious mental experience caused the electrical 
reaction. When the test word cat was mentioned at 1 there 
followed an immediate rise in the galvanometric curve. 

strated, that deflections of the delicate galvanom- 
eter can take place even when the battery is not 
used. Here the electrical variations under the 
influence of the emotions seem to be caused by a 
current generated in the body itself. These 
electrical phenomena associated with the emo- 
tions have been called the psycho-physical gal- 
vanic reflex, or more simply, the psychogalvanic 
reaction. 

In these pulse reaction tests and in the psycho- 
galvanic reaction, we seem to have methods of 



TESTING THE EMOTIONS 59 

precision in investigating and measuring the 
effects of the emotions. Whether these emotions 
are present in consciousness, but suppressed, or 
only present as subconscious emotional com- 
plexes, the electrical and pulse effects are the 
same. Both methods are merely more exact 
modifications of the association tests. In these 
latter, however, the reactions are inhibitions or 
lengthenings of thought, whereas in the former 
the phenomena are either physiological or elec- 
trical. All of these test methods, however, are 
reactions to emotional conditions and have no 
relation to purely intellectual processes. 

The pathological effects of certain emotions 
are of great interest. It is well known that har- 
rowing experiences may lead to sudden death 
and that emotional effects enter largely into cer- 
tain individual religious conversions or by a 
kind of mental contagion are the prime factors 
in religious revivals. The rhythmic character of 
the emotions and their motor accompaniments 
are of great interest in all revivals. Frequently 
hysterical phenomena make their appearance, — 
trance, stupor, mutism, blindness, hallucinations, 
visions. A series of emotional shocks may bring 
about grave nervous disorders such as neuras- 
thenia, hysteria, association, and fear neuroses, 
certain hysterical dissociations, or they may lead 
to profound changes in the personality, as in 



60 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

cases of extensive general amnesia or in multiple 
personality. 

According to Fere, an emotion may be con- 
sidered as morbid or pathological when its 
physiological accompaniments take place with 
extraordinary intensity, when the emotion is 
produced without a sufficient determining cause, 
and when the emotional effects are unduly pro- 
longed. Emotions are most likely to lead to 
pathological phenomena when at the time of the 
emotion a state of exhaustion or fatigue was 
present. In fact, an emotional experience is 
most liable to recur again under states of fatigue. 

This is well illustrated in the evolution of 
certain fear neuroses, in which exhaustion, pain, 
or certain suppressed feelings precede the first 
attack of fear, which then becomes automatically 
repeated as a kind of an unconscious or sub- 
conscious automatism. Sometimes, instead of 
the psychical accompaniment, the physiological 
symptoms of the original emotion persist and 
are repeated, as in certain cases of functional 
intestinal disturbance or in the persistence of a 
rapid heart beat without any organic basis. 
Under other conditions an attack of a previous 
organic nervous disease may be induced by a 
severe emotional shock, as in the case of the 
epileptic attack of Othello. After the harrow- 
ing experiences of a railroad accident, the sud- 



TESTING THE EMOTIONS 61 

den shock of the accident, even with little or 
no physical injury, may lead to distressing types 
of hysteria and neurasthenia, from which the 
person may not recover for months or years, 
even without litigation or even after the claim 
for damages has been satisfactorily arranged. 
These form the large class of cases known as 
the traumatic neuroses. Here it is the psychical 
and not the physical shock which caused the dis- 
integration. 

Suppression of certain memories or experi- 
ences having a strong emotional meaning can 
lead to hysterical symptoms, such as paralysis, 
contractures, convulsions, or even changes in the 
mental state or the personality of the individual. 
It is not necessary that the suppressed or 
" strangulated emotions " remain in conscious- 
ness, for under certain conditions they can exer- 
cise their pernicious effect even if they are sub- 
conscious. Sometimes a complete confession on 
the part of the subject of the emotional experi- 
ences which he is voluntarily suppressing will 
have a profound influence in relieving, or even 
curing, the abnormal symptoms which seem to be 
dependent on this suppression. This disintegra- 
tory effect of the emotions in leading to cer- 
tain pathological phenomena of dissociation, has 
been shown in a number of published cases. In 
Janet's case of Mme. D. the sudden mental 



62 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

shock of the false news of her husband's death 
caused almost immediately an hysterical attack 
with delirium and convulsions, which lasted sev- 
eral days. At the end of this time it was found 
that not only had the patient forgotten every- 
thing that occurred for six weeks previous to 
the attack (retrograde amnesia), but continued 
to forget everything as fast as it happened 
(continuous amnesia). In the chapter on mem- 
ory, however, it will be pointed out that, in this 
case, the memories were not entirely obliterated, 
but were simply dissociated from her conscious 
perception. These dissociated experiences could 
not only be recalled when the patient was hyp- 
notized but also appeared in dreams. In the 
case of Miss Beauchamp, the genesis of the 
changes in the personality could be traced to 
an emotional shock. Furthermore, in the case 
of Mrs. Y., who developed a form of hysterical 
paralysis with four distinct hypnotic personali- 
ties, it was possible to trace the origin of the 
hysterical condition back to a series of harrow- 
ing emotional experiences. 1 In a case of noc- 
turnal paralysis, the origin of the condition was 
the emotional shock incident to the sudden death 
of the patient's child. Peculiar functional at- 
tacks simulating epilepsy may also recur by as- 
sociation with the emotional experience which 

a This case forms the subject of Part II, Chapter IV. 



TESTING THE EMOTIONS 63 

caused the first attack of convulsions. In other 
words, the emotions can so act as to lead to a 
splitting of consciousness and thus cause changes 
in the personality, losses of memory, psycho- 
epileptic attacks, and certain recurrent states of 
fear (recurrent psycho-motor states). Any 
emotional complex or experience which has be- 
come dormant or quiescent can be thrown into 
activity again through association, either from 
within or without, and thus lead to certain 
pathological phenomena (hysterical, psycho- 
epileptic, phobias, obsessions). These various 
phenomena, to a limited degree, have also their 
prototype in everyday life. The fear of thunder- 
storms, the sense of nausea that occurs in some 
persons at the sight or odor of certain foods, as 
for instance, strawberries or peppermint, the 
sense of awe that overwhelms others at the sight 
of the sea, the feeling of disgust for snakes, 
worms, or crawling things, are instances in 
question. Here certain dormant experiences 
with an emotional coloring (fear, nausea, 
awe, disgust) are awakened through associa- 
tion, some of which can be traced back to a 
forgotten episode in childhood. 

In contrast with this disintegrating effect of 
painful emotions, the integrating or curative or 
rather the synthetic effect of pleasurable emo- 
tions and confidence is a well-known fact in 



64 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

psychology. As Bain says, " States of pleasure 
are concomitant with an increase and state of 
pain with an abatement of some or all of the 
vital functions." This psychological mechanism, 
is of great value in certain psychotherapeutic 
procedures, such as the successful treatment of 
certain states of depression, exhaustion, and 
fear. This has been experimentally proven by 
some studies of the physiological accompani- 
ments of feeling. Claparede states as follows 
concerning this condition, " Each one of us can 
testify that, under diverse conditions, confidence 
gives strength, it is dynamogenic. A neuropath 
is most often a being who mistrusts himself, 
who shrinks and inhibits himself; in a word, one 
who strains his reflexes of defence. Confidence, 
which is the antagonist of this mental defence, 
acts in relaxing these reflexes of defence; at the 
same time it sets free the energy which had been 
stored up, potentialized by the activity of de- 
fence. This available energy, this energy in a 
nascent state, can then be usefully employed in 
the physical or psychic re-education of the pa- 
tient." Here we have a biological interpreta- 
tion of the doctrine of reserve energy. 

The practical application of this theory was 
well exemplified in the synthesis of the various 
personalities of Miss Beauchamp and also in 
the following personal observations. A highly 



TESTING THE EMOTIONS 65 

intelligent woman, under the stress of a series of 
harrowing experiences, which she was compelled 
to voluntarily suppress during a number of 
years, developed a gradual change in her per- 
sonality. Whereas previously she had been 
cheerful, fond of company and travel, and inter- 
ested in general affairs, she became moody, de- 
pressed, and seclusive, easily exhausted, lost her 
interest in tilings in general, and became self- 
centred and abnormally self-conscious. The 
treatment of this condition consisted in the 
stimulation of pleasurable emotions and of a 
sense of elation and well-being, which after a 
time changed, or rather synthetized her, back 
to her normal self. In another case, one of 
psychasthenia with a marked feeling of deper- 
sonalization, the same procedure was eminently 
successful. This patient characterized her nor- 
mal self as a " solid substance, living, growing," 
and her abnormal self as a " bloodless nothing — 
if I shut my eyes I do not think or feel, as 
though my thoughts went through me without 
resistance." Here again the integrating, syn- 
thetizing effect of the emotion of well-being and 
joy was successful in effecting a cure. 

Thus we see that the emotions can act either 
for good or evil. They may be reactions of 
defence or have painful effect in certain 
pathological mental states. On the other hand, 



66 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

the suppression of painful emotional experi- 
ences or emotional shocks,, either singly or in 
series, may lead to certain abnormal phenom- 
ena in the mental life of the individual, such 
as changes in the personality, losses of memory, 
or hysterical manifestations. On the body 
mechanism itself the emotions have a profound 
influence, producing changes in electrical resist- 
ance, in the pulse rate, stimulation or inhibition 
of glandular secretion or of the motor power of 
the gastro-intestinal tract, variations in the respi- 
ration and in the tension of the muscles. Recent 
investigations would lead us to believe that 
these multitudinous psycho-physical and psycho- 
physiological phenomena are of central and not 
peripheral origin. The phenomena of the rela- 
tion of certain test words to associations of an 
emotional character (the association tests) and 
the mechanism of the inhibition of thought in 
these experiments, are of such importance that 
their discussion will be left for another chapter, 
although here again it is emotional states, and 
not intellectual conditions, which determine the 
type of reaction. 



CHAPTER IV 

ANALYZING THE EMOTIONS 

The association of ideas or the linking of 
de s in consciousness has engaged the attention 
of psychologists from the days of the Greek 
philosophers up to the present time. The fact 
that a word or idea should immediately suggest 
a related word or idea is one of the peculiarities 
:' the mechanism of thought, and on this pecu- 
liarity was based some of the older systems of 
so-called associationist psychology. For 
years, however, the study of association remained 
barren of practical results, but with the advent 
of precise instruments to measure the reaction 
time, with the investigations of the physiology 
of the reflexes, and the propagation of nerve 
impulses, the association of ideas became filled 
with a new interest. It is a matter of common 
observation that it is easier to remember rhymed 
poetry than blank verse or prose, and this is 
due not to the rhythm but in a great part 
to the association of rhyme. Many of the 
schemes used by schoolboys for remember- 

67 



68 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

ing historical dates or the sequence of rulers 
or presidents, is based upon the law of asso- 
ciation. 

In normal individuals, the association time is 
usually very short, but measurements of this 
time by modern electrical instruments have 
shown that it is not instantaneous, as was form- 
erly supposed. It takes time for an impulse 
to travel along a nerve path or for a sensory 
impulse from the eye or ear to reach the brain 
and call forth a related impulse. In a way, the 
association mechanism resembles certain physio- 
logical reflexes. It is only when instruments of 
accuracy are used, that the time for one idea 
to call forth a related idea can be measured. 
Therefore, before the advent of experimental 
psychology and physiology, the association of 
ideas was looked upon as a more or less mys- 
terious process, a function of a kind of a meta- 
physical consciousness. Investigations in nor- 
mal individuals and in certain abnormal mental 
states have shown, however, that the association 
mechanism is based upon well-defined laws of 
body and mind, upon brain physiology and not 
upon metaphysical conceptions. Association, 
therefore, like the emotions, can be best ex- 
plained through physiological psychology. We 
will discuss the subject from this standpoint 
alone, giving only as much of the work on nor- 



ANALYZING THE EMOTIONS 69 

mal associations as will enable the reader to 
understand the various abnormal associative 
processes. 

There is an intimate relationship between the 
psychology and physiology of the brain. There 
can be no mental process without a previous 
brain process. Precise measurements have 
shown that it takes a definite and appreciable 
length of time for nerve energy to be propa- 
gated, and even in the quickest of our associa- 
tions there is an interval of a large fraction 
of a second between one idea and another. 
Habit lessens this time interval; fatigue, al- 
cohol, and other drugs, and the presence of 
an emotional meaning connected with a certain 
word greatly increase this interval. This last 
factor, the inhibition or slowing of thought 
through emotional factors, is of great value 
in some of the analyses of abnormal psychol- 
ogy. To this factor, however, we will return 
later. 

Certain bundles of nerve fibres, or tracts in 
the brain, seem to be especially concerned with 
the processes of association, in the same way that 
certain parts of the brain are the centres for 
sight, smell, language, etc. Now in man these 
so-called association areas occupy a large portion 
of the cerebral hemispheres, and when we realize 
how all intellect seems based on association and 



70 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

associative memory, we have here a beautiful 
example of the relation of function to structure. 
The exact localization of these association areas 
in the brain has recently attracted a great deal 
of attention. For some of these centres, the 
evidence is certain; for others, it is still prob- 
lematical. After we eliminate the sensory or 
motor paths of the brain, and the centres for 
language and special senses, there still remains 
a large portion of what were formerly termed 
the " silent areas." Now these " silent areas," 
in the light of recent investigations, possess a 
function of great importance and interest, 
namely, association. 

In the development of the nervous system, 
the nerve tracts of the brain receive their cover- 
ing or myelin sheaths (called medullation) in 
different order and sequence. Those nerve 
tracts which will be used first by the new-born 
child, first become medullated, that is the sen- 
sory fibres, because the child makes use of its 
sensory organs before it uses its motor organs. 
When the child begins to walk, then the motor 
paths of the brain become medullated. Last of 
all, the association areas receive their myelin 
sheaths, because these subserve the highest func- 
tions of intelligence, — language and memory. 
In mental diseases associated with any degree of 
dementia or mental weakness, the association 



ANALYZING THE EMOTIONS 71 

areas are nearly always found in a condition 
of degeneration. 

The materials of thought and association are 
largely the results of habit and training. As- 
sociation is due to the manner in which one 
elementary brain process may excite another ele- 
mentary brain process, which has taken place at 
a previous time, So we see that the processes of 
association are brain processes and its physio- 
logical law may be expressed as follows: When 
two elementary brain processes have been active 
together or in immediate succession, one of those, 
on recurring, tends to propagate its excitement 
into the other. Normal associations are due 
largely to the habits in which the nervous sys- 
tem has become " set," as it were. Associa- 
tions will not only show a subject's mental 
make-up or his interests, but will also betray 
his hidden motives and desires and concealed 
facts in his experiences. Hence the value of 
the association method to test the intellectual 
capability of the subject or to lay bare his 
innermost feelings and secrets. For instance, 
let us take the word " man." To this 
word the scientist would probably associate 
the word " vertebrate," the physician, the 
word " disease," the minister, the word 
" morality." 

I had previously pointed out that the repro- 



72 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

duction of stimuli, experiences, or reactions is 
usually in the same order in which they are re- 
ceived. This psychological mechanism finds its 
physiological parallel in the phenomena of chain 
or sequence reflexes. According to Loeb and 
Sherrington, the crawling of an earthworm, in 
which the threshold of each succeeding reflex 
is lowered by the excitation just preceding its 
own, is a chain or sequence reflex of this kind. 
Association may be interpreted in part as a 
psychical chain reflex, for as soon as one ele- 
mentary brain process becomes started, it stimu- 
lates the next succeeding group, so that each 
process is reproduced in the order in which 
it originally occurred. Memory forms the high- 
est type of association. In fact, all memory, 
with the probable exception of certain scrappy 
automatisms which occur in some cases of 
functional amnesia, is associative memory. It 
is this associative memory which is responsible 
for the higher intellectual processes of man, 
for even in monkeys and the higher apes the 
associations are of a very elementary, simple 
type. 

What, then, is the value of associations in 
abnormal psychology; how are we to interpret 
the findings, and how are the tests carried out? 
It would lead us too far into technicalities to 
give the enormous mass of literature which has 



ANALYZING THE EMOTIONS 73 

recently been called forth by the association tests 
and therefore only the most important and prac- 
tical points will be briefly discussed. These 
technical methods have shown that the associa- 
tions cannot only reveal the normal mental 
make-up of an individual, but may also betray 
his abnormal mental make-up as well. In other 
words, the interpretation and study of a series 
of words used for the association tests in nor- 
mal individuals apply with equal force when we 
come to study certain diseases. When we give 
a subject a word and ask him to reply with the 
first idea which this test word suggests, it will 
be found that a definite time elapses between 
the test word and the reaction. This time, if 
measured with the chronoscope or the stop- 
watch, will be found to vary from the fraction 
of a second to several seconds. This could not 
be otherwise, if we remember the complicated 
circuit which the reaction takes. The spoken 
word is first heard by the ear, then carried to 
the brain; there it awakens or stimulates previ- 
ously stored-up brain processes which are re- 
lated to this word; then it reaches the language 
centre and awakens the image of the related 
word, and finally it is spoken by the subject. 
In reality the circuit and the brain process are 
far more complex than I have indicated. In 
any case it takes time for the impulses to travel 



74 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

along the nerves and tracts in the brain. As 
will be shown later, certain things may influence 
either the time, or the reaction, or both; the time 
may be normal, or shortened or lengthened, the 
reaction to the test word may be normal, pecu- 
liar, or entirely lacking. The facts which 
determine any abnormality in association are 
many. 

Let us make the experiment somewhat more 
complicated, as it is usually carried out in 
laboratories and in clinical investigations. A 
series of fifty to one hundred words is read off 
to the subject, care being taken that the words 
are ordinary and indifferent. In most cases, the 
suggested word will be found normal and the 
time reaction short. But supposing in the midst 
of this list we insert a few words that touch 
a " sore spot," as it were; that is, words relating 
to certain emotional experiences in the subject's 
life. A peculiar thing will be found to occur. 
Whereas the reaction time for normal words 
was short, in the words having an emotional 
meaning the time will be found to have been 
considerably lengthened. A retardation or in- 
hibition of thought has taken place, if we wish 
to speak in psychological terms ; or, if we wish to 
take a nomenclature from physiology, we say 
that the normal path of association has become 
blocked. What causes this retardation, this 



ANALYZING THE EMOTIONS 75 

blocking, this interference with a normal reac- 
tion, and this alteration of the processes of 
thought? Evidently the test word has stimu- 
lated a dormant group of ideas or complexes 
which had an emotional meaning, and it is 
this emotional tone which has delayed the 
process of thought. A painful idea has been 
awakened by the test word and the subject's 
efforts to suppress the painful idea, to keep it 
in the background of the mind, takes a certain 
length of time. Hence the delayed time be- 
tween the test word and the reaction word. 
While the intellectual status may determine the 
kind or type of association, yet the reaction 
time is influenced by emotional and not by in- 
tellectual factors. 

Other abnormal phenomena may also take 
place in the association mechanism, such as 
flight of ideas, absence of reaction, automatic 
repetition of test words, indifferent reactions, 
etc. It would lead us too far into technicalities 
to enter into all these finer details, and, there- 
fore, we will limit our discussion, as far as pos- 
sible, to the delayed reaction time. The asso- 
ciations are influenced by the type of complexes, 
as to whether or not they have an emotional 
coloring. These complexes may cause an in- 
hibition of thought and so delay the reaction; 
they may completely arrest, temporarily at 



76 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

least, the normal mental activity and so cause 
an absence of reaction to the test word; they 
may cause indifferent reactions or finally only 
sound associations, such as rhyming and flight 
of ideas. As will be shown later, this latter is 
largely dependent upon a disorder of atten- 
tion. In order for a complex to produce the 
retardation of thought it must not only have 
an emotional coloring, but must be preserved in 
the unconscious, although it may be dormant 
and suppressed. Subconscious complexes are 
incapable of causing any retardation in the 
association tests, although if identical words be 
used, these same words will be found capable 
of causing electrical reactions and modifications 
in the pulse rate. 

The use of the association method has thrown 
considerable light upon the delusions and hal- 
lucinations in dementia prascox and also upon 
the dream life in both this disease and hysteria. 
When a test word strikes a particular experience 
that has been stored up, but remains dormant, 
immediately an abnormal reaction takes place, 
either retardation or refusal to co-operate or an 
indifferent reaction word. 

By means of this method we are able to 
prove that many insane ideas, delusions, hal- 
lucinations, and dreams take their origin in 
previous experiences, which were preserved in 



ANALYZING THE EMOTIONS 77 

the unconscious as dormant complexes or mem- 
ories. Investigations along these lines by cer- 
tain German investigators (Jung, Freud, and 
the Zurich school), have thrown an immense 
amount of light upon hysteria and upon the 
psychogenesis of dementia prsecox. 

The results and the value of the association 
method in hysteria are given in a psycho- 
analysis of a case of hysteria. 1 We will, there- 
fore, limit ourselves to a brief discussion of a 
case of dementia prsecox. Dementia precox is 
a mental disease which usually occurs in ado- 
lescence and early youth, its chief characteristic 
being that, no matter what may be the character 
of the insane ideas or the abnormal activity, 
there is a termination in a peculiar and char- 
acteristic mental weakness. This mental weak- 
ness is primarily of the nature of an emotional 
deterioration or indifference, rather than any 
intellectual change. It is only within recent 
years that the disease has been fully recognized 
and only still more recently has the psychology 
of the disease found a fairly satisfactory ex- 
planation. The psychological interpretation of 
dementia prsecox is certainly a healthy reaction 
from the vague theories of auto-intoxication and 
the barren results of pathological anatomy. 
Examinations of the brain in subjects who 

*See Chapter VIII: "The Analysis of the Mental Life." 



78 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

have died from this disease, have yielded noth- 
ing of importance. In no other disease, outside 
of hysteria, have purely psychological investiga- 
tions yielded data of so much importance. In 
the recent work of Jung, 1 an attempt is made 
to give a logical explanation of the behavior 
and utterances in this disease, which were 
formerly looked upon as strange and at 
random. 

In dementia prsecox, there is often a pecu- 
liar blocking of thought and a dissociation of 
the inner mechanism of will and action. For 
instance, in one case of dementia prsecox the 
subject replied to all the association test words 
by an indifferent " I don't know," or by merely 
echoing the test word. He later explained these 
reactions by stating that he could not think of 
anything. It has also been shown in this dis- 
ease that it is the experiences of the subject pre- 
served in the mind as unconscious or dormant 
memories which cause the various hallucinations, 
delusions, insane ideas, and abnormal activities. 
These unconscious residuals have a distinct emo- 
tional coloring, and hence, when the association 
tests are used for analysis, words related to these 
complexes cause a disorder of the mechanism 
of association. This disorder may be either re- 

1 C. G. Jung: "The Psychology of Dementia Praecox," 1909. 
(Translated by Peterson and Brill.) 



ANALYZING THE EMOTIONS 79 

tardation, or mere repetition of the test word, 
or complete refusal to co-operate, all of which 
are manifest " blockings " of the mechanism of 
association. 

The evidence seems to show that in dementia 
prsecox we are dealing with some form of men- 
tal dissociation. But why one form of mental 
dissociation should cause a curable hysteria 
and the other an incurable dementia prsecox, 
cannot be definitely answered at present. With- 
out entering into details, it might be briefly 
stated, that in hysteria, the emotions are merely 
suppressed or detached, while in dementia 
prsecox the emotions are destroyed. Hence, on 
the one hand, we get the increased emotionalism 
in hysteria, and on the other hand, the decreased 
or even absent emotions in the subject of de- 
mentia prsecox. Further analysis by the pulse, 
electrical, and association tests, seems to show, 
however, that in dementia precox the emotional 
indifference is only superficial and that the 
emotions may be subconsciously active. The 
subjects, however, pay little or no attention to 
their submerged emotions, while in hysteria, 
the opposite takes place. 

We are now prepared to study a series of 
associations in a case of dementia prsecox, and 
to show how the various phenomena of this 
particular case took their origin in the sub- 



80 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

ject's previous experiences. These experiences 
remained conserved as dormant unconscious 
complexes or memories. It was these memories 
that caused the vivid hallucinations and the 
fantastic dream states. Words relating to these 
unconscious complexes or taken directly from 
them, greatly influenced the time and type of 
the associations. The retardation in many of 
the tests was due to the words relating to uncon- 
scious complexes, which had a strong emotional 
coloring, hence the blocking of thought with the 
consequent slowness of reaction. The uncon- 
scious complexes not only influenced the type 
and formation of the hallucinations and dreams, 
but they also were the factors in causing the 
inhibition of thought as shown by the associa- 
tion tests. Hence the complex had a two- 
fold disturbing action; on the formation of the 
insane ideas and on the retardation of thought 
as shown by the special tests. 

The patient was an intelligent young woman, 
thirty years of age. At the age of twenty- 
eight she went on a pleasure trip, and dur- 
ing her travels, she consulted three palmists who 
informed her that while on this trip she would 
meet the person who would eventually become 
her husband, although there would be consider- 
able trouble and delay. To a certain extent this 
occupied her mind and worried her, and while 



ANALYZING THE EMOTIONS 81 

on her way home she became acquainted with a 
young professional man. Shortly afterward she 
began to have series of dreams, such as the 
hearing of pistol shots, of a certain person wear- 
ing a black necktie, at another time of a police' 
officer about to arrest her, that her father and 
mother were in prison for some terrible crime. 
Later other dreams followed, such as being 
on a sinking ship, or in a rowboat alone at 
night, or of travelling interminable distances on 
a railroad train. These dreams symbolized 
certain things to the patient; the dream of the 
black necktie meaning that the professional man 
had committed suicide, the sinking ship meant 
trouble, the rowboat signified her destiny. Fin- 
ally peculiar words that she had been unaccus- 
tomed to using would suddenly flash into her 
mind, such as " tripod," " harlequin," " suicide," 
"Jezebel," "ineffable woe," "ineffable joy," 
etc. To these words a symbolic meaning was 
also attached. Finally these words became hal- 
lucinatory in character and took the form of 
voices, and the patient became literally bom- 
barded by auditory hallucinations. In the 
series of associations which follow it will be 
noticed that long reaction times coincide with 
the words or ideas which formed either the 
complexes, the hallucinatory phenomena, the 
dreams, or the previous experiences. 



82 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 







Reaction 




Reaction 


Stimulus 


Reaction 


Time 


Stimulus 


Reaction Time 


Word 


Word 


(Seconds) 


Word 


Word (Seconds) 


Chair 


Frame 


4.8 


Affinity 


Like 4.2 


Tripod 


Three 


2.2 


Ring 


Round 2.8 


Glass 


Square 


2.8 


Book 


Vellum 2.6 


Black 


Darkness 


4. 


Police 


Uniform 3.4 


House 


Home 


1.8 


Jezebel 


Wickedness 4 . 8 


Harlequin 


Fool 


6.4 


Dress 


Gown 3.8 


Ship 


Ship 


4. 


Prison 


Bars 8. 


Heart 


Red 


6.2 


Joy 


Happiness 2.8 



The slowness of reaction showed that the emo- 
tions aroused by certain test words were blocked, 
could not find a normal path of discharge. 
This was due to the fact that the test words 
aroused painful memories in the experiences of 
the subject, such as certain incidents in her life, 
her dreams, and her hallucinations and delu- 
sions. For instance such words as " prison," 
" black," or " ship " referred to the dreams and 
their symbolic interpretation; "harlequin" and 
" Jezebel " referred to the hallucinations. In 
this case also, the same test words caused an 
increase of the pulse rate. 

In certain other mental diseases the associa- 
tion of ideas may be disturbed along different 
lines. In dementia, the associations are very 
narrow and may be applied to mere mechanical 
repetitions of the test word. In experimental 
fatigue and hunger and after the ingestion of 
even moderate doses of alcohol the associative 



ANALYZING THE EMOTIONS 83 

process is slowed. The most marked disturb- 
ance of association of ideas is found in mania. 1 
The chief characteristics of this mental disease 
are extreme restlessness and increased activity, 
loquacity, exaltation, and a marked disorder 
of attention, leading to rapid comments upon 
the surroundings and upon any new sense im- 
pressions. The disturbance of association in 
mania is expressed by the term flight of ideas. 
Its chief characteristics are jumping from one 
idea to another, usually by means of rhyming 
or sound associations, or in extreme cases, there 
may be an actual incoherence of ideas. It is 
not the apparent increased rapidity of associa- 
tion that leads to flight of ideas, because no 
matter how rapid may be the association time, 
it still may be rational. The flight of ideas 
is really due to a disorder of attention. When 
a normal person passes from one group of 
ideas to another, the tendency is to remain at- 
tentive to the first group, to keep the ideas in 
the foreground of the mind, and not allow the 
attention to be distracted by external occur- 
rences. In mania, however, just the opposite 
takes place. Here attention is lacking or much 
diminished, it dwells for a short time only on 
one idea, the subject is extremely fickle, dis- 

a The term mania is used as expressing the exalted phase of 
the periodic mental disease known as manic-depressive insanity. 



84 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

tracted by outward sense impressions, and turns 
to anything new with great avidity. Hence 
the jumping from one idea to another. 

For instance, a maniacal patient was given 
the word " hot " as an association test word. 
Now, in a normal individual, the reaction word 
would probably be " cold " or " weather," but 
here it would stop. But observe this patient's 
string of associations. To the word " hot " he 
responded as follows — " Weather, not cold, hot 
beans, hot times in war, heat ironing, that's 
what women do, if more wood is wanted, fill 
the wood-box." Another maniacal patient was 
given the word " spider." Here rhyming as- 
sociations took place, " Ida, rider, spider, spy 
I, who do you spy, through my little eye." 

Recently the application of the association 
tests for the determination of concealed facts 
in crime has attracted a great deal of attention. 
For this purpose the list of ordinary test words 
is loaded with special words pointing to the trend 
of suspicion. In reaction to these special words, 
there results either a refusal to co-operate, or a 
lengthening of the reaction time. The method 
is very promising of practical results, but only 
by the accumulation of further data in the 
future can we determine if we have here an 
infallible device to probe into hidden memories. 
If so, the psychological inquisition of the future 



ANALYZING THE EMOTIONS 85 

will not consist of threats, tortures, and the 
rack, nor of the equally painful so-called " third 
degree," but the criminal will be brought face 
to face with the scientific psychologist. It has 
already been pointed out how words having an 
emotional meaning may slow the reaction time. 
Now this retardation may take place either 
because the words had something to do with the 
crime, or because the subject was afraid that the 
associated word which first came to his mind 
would betray him and, therefore, he makes an 
attempt to substitute a less dangerous word. 
But either of these mental processes, either 
substitution or the emotional reaction of a bad 
conscience, would cause a slowness in answering, 
and this retardation can easily be measured, 
either with a chronoscope or, what is just as 
accurate for all practical purposes, a stop- 
watch. Innocent, indifferent words would be 
given very quickly, as the subject would feel 
that he need not be on his guard, having nothing 
to conceal. Sometimes, on a suspicious word, 
the reaction may be an indifferent association, 
if the subject is clever, but the suppressed 
memory would linger in consciousness and be- 
tray itself in the following association. Also 
when suspicious words are used, the association 
suggested by this word will occasionally un- 
mask the subject. 



86 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

The following is an example in a case of 
juvenile delinquency which came under per- 
sonal observation. 1 Only the most striking 
reactions will be given. The patient, a girl of 
seventeen years of age, for several years had 
been cross and stubborn, and would frequently 
remain away from home. There was also some 
suspicion of certain irregularities, of disorderly 
conduct, and of frequenting cheap vaudeville 
entertainments. All this was absolutely denied 
by the patient. Owing to the manifest untruth 
and lack of sincerity in the patient's attitude, 
an attempt was made to get at the concealed 
facts in the case by means of the association 
tests. 







Reaction Tim 


Test Word 


Reaction Word 


(in seconds) 


Dark 


Night 


1. 


Square 


Four corners 


2. 


Hard 


Not bent 


3. 


Drink 


Water 


1. 


Bad 


Unconscious 


4. 


Lie 


Hasty 


9.4 


Street 


Walking 


6.4 


Sea 


Water 


0.4 


Untruth 


Spoken in haste 


9.4 


Bed 


Sleep 


2.4 


Deceit 


To speak against 


14.6 


Vaudeville 


Gayety 


13.6 


Conduct 


Don't know 


16.4 


Sweet 


Candy 


1.4 



1 " The Mental Condition of Juvenile Delinquents," Psychological 
Clinic, Vol. I, No. 5, October 15, 190T. 



ANALYZING THE EMOTIONS 87 

The lengthened reaction time to such test 
words as " lie," " street," " untruth," " deceit," 
" vaudeville," the refusal to co-operate when 
the word " conduct " was used, and the peculiar 
reaction of the word " walking " to the test 
word " street," or of the word " gayety " to 
" vaudeville," pointed strongly to purposely 
concealed facts. When the patient was directly 
accused of these matters, she broke down and 
confessed that she had been telling an untruth. 



CHAPTER V 

SLEEP 

Sleep has been called a mystery, and it is a 
mystery well-nigh inscrutable. The very multi- 
plicity of the theories on sleep shows how in- 
adequate they are to explain the phenomenon, 
which from the earliest dawn of history has 
puzzled savage and scientist alike. To primi- 
tive man or to the uneducated savage, there was 
something uncanny in this " darkness and light 
that divided the course of time." The outward 
resemblance of sleep to death only served to 
increase the mystery. 

The modern scientist has approached but 
little nearer to the final solution of the problem. 
Many theories have been proposed to explain 
sleep, from the earlier ideas that sleep is due 
to a lack of blood in the brain to the more recent 
biological and physiological conceptions. Each 
theory has its enthusiastic advocates and each 
can cite apparently unanswerable facts as a 
positive proof. In sleep, we seem to be dealing 
with definite alterations of the personality, but 
just how the waking personality falls into the 



SLEEP 89 

state we call sleep and how this latter again 
changes to the waking personality, is the great 
enigma. Yet this cycle occurs in one form or 
another throughout almost the entire organized 
world. Sleep is necessary for all living beings, 
or rather for those beings which possess a cen- 
tral nervous system, no matter how rudimen- 
tary. Moving unicellular organisms, however, 
even when observed for hours at a stretch, show 
neither repose nor sleep. Their movements 
seem to be perpetual. 

As a preliminary, it will be of interest to 
briefly pass in review the various theories that 
have been propounded to explain sleep. These 
theories fall naturally into five groups, namely 
physiological, histological, chemical, psychologi- 
cal, and biological. The pathological theories 
of sleep belong to a separate category and com- 
prise only the abnormal sleep states as manifes- 
tations of certain diseases of the nervous system, 
such as hysteria, epilepsy, and the African 
sleeping-sickness. 

Physiological Theories of Sleep 

Sleep is due to changes in the cerebral cir- 
culation. A lack of blood in the brain causes 
what is known as cerebral ansemia. This cere- 
bral anaemia may be due to a dilatation of the 
blood-vessels of the skin, which causes a fall 



90 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

of blood pressure in the brain. Sleep naturally 
results, in the same way that a lack of blood in 
the brain causes that transitory loss of con- 
sciousness known as fainting. 

According to these circulatory theories of 
sleep, cerebral congestion, or an increased 
amount of blood in the brain, produces insomnia. 
Observations on exposed brains after the skull 
has been trephined for injuries, seem to bear out 
these circulatory theories on sleep. Mosso's fa- 
mous observations in cases of this type, showed 
a cerebral anaemia during sleep. Yet strong 
pressure on the carotid arteries in the neck, for 
a short time, thus interfering with the passage 
of blood to the brain, causes a state of con- 
sciousness analogous to fainting, rather than 
genuine sleep. 

Histological Theories of Sleep 

These are the theories which explain sleep as 
being produced by certain movements which the 
nerve cell prolongations are supposed to pos- 
sess. These prolongations are technically 
known as the dendrites. All nerve cells possess 
dendrites which touch each other and by means 
of which nerve currents are supposed to be 
transmitted from one cell to another. Accord- 
ing to this theory these nerve currents are 
necessary for consciousness and when there is 



SLEEP 91 

any break in these currents, that is, when 
the dendrites spontaneously grow shorter, so 
that they no longer come into contact with one 
another, sleep results. The theory is a fascinat- 
ing one and it has also been utilized to explain 
the mechanism of certain dissociations of con- 
sciousness, such as dreams, hysteria, and hyp- 
nosis. 

Chemical Theories of Sleep 

Even modern physiological chemistry has 
tried its hand in the interpretation of such a 
purely psychological mechanism as sleep. It 
supposes that poisons are elaborated during the 
day, as the result of muscular and nerve activity, 
that these poisons are narcotic (sleep produc- 
ing) in action and when they reach a certain 
amount, drowsiness, and then sleep, results. 
These poisons have a direct action upon the 
central nervous system, particularly the brain. 
In sleep, the poisons are no longer formed be- 
cause in this condition there is a minimum of 
nerve and muscle activity. These toxic sub- 
stances are eliminated during the night and 
when elimination is nearly complete, awaken- 
ing results. This cycle of self-poisoning of the 
nervous system is repeated day after day. It 
is really a kind of auto-intoxication. A modi- 
fication of this theory states that sleep is pro- 



92 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

duced by a lack of oxygen in the brain. An 
excess of carbonic gas is, therefore, formed and 
the somnolent effect of this gas is a fact well 
attested by experience, such as occurs in im- 
properly ventilated and crowded rooms. 

Psychological Theories of Sleep 

Sleep is an inhibition, a resting state of con- 
sciousness. Mental activity or consciousness is 
dependent upon peripheral incoming stimuli, 
and when these are absent, a lowering of men- 
tal activity follows and sleep results. Accord- 
ing to this theory, if all peripheral stimuli are 
cut out, sleep will naturally follow. When 
we attempt to sleep, we voluntarily cut off all 
distracting external stimuli; we darken the 
room, lie quietly, stop all muscular activity, 
close the eyes, etc. 

Biological Theories of Sleep 

The interpretation of sleep as one of the 
essential life phenomena is the basis of the bi- 
ological conceptions as elaborated by Claparede 
and Sidis. In fact, Claparede interprets many 
abnormal psychic conditions from a purely 
biological standpoint. His biological theory of 
sleep has attracted considerable attention. 1 Ac- 

*E. Claparede: " Enquisse d'une Theorie Biologique du Som- 
meil." — Archives de Psychologie, Vol. IV. 



SLEEP 93 

cording to him, sleep is not due to fatigue be- 
cause fatigue frequently produces insomnia. 
Sleep is a negative state, a cessation of all 
activity. It is a reaction of defence to protect 
the organism against fatigue, rather than a 
psychological process, the result of fatigue. It 
is an instinct; we sleep not because our nervous 
system is poisoned or exhausted, but because 
we cannot help sleeping. He asks the very 
pertinent question — At what step in evolution 
did sleep first appear? In reply to himself he 
says, " Sleep did not necessarily exist at all 
times; it is, in fact, a contingent phenomenon, 
and is not implied in the conception of life; the 
lower forms of animal life, microbes and in- 
fusoria, do not manifest any sleep. If sleep 
has developed, it is probably due to the fact that 
those animals whose activity was broken by 
periods of repose or of immobility have been 
favored in the struggle for existence, for they 
have been enabled, thanks to the accumulation 
of energy, during these periods of immobility, 
to manifest in consequence a more intense activ- 
ity. As to these periods of immobility, they 
are themselves derived from the function of 
inhibition of defence, which plays such a great 
role in the animal kingdom (simulation of 
death) ." 

The latest systemized research on sleep is by 



94 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

Boris Sidis, 1 who interprets sleep from the 
standpoint of the threshold of cell energy. 
These investigations showed that sleep is due in 
the main to the cutting out of all peripheral 
stimuli. Relaxation and not fixation of atten- 
tion is necessary for sleep, for this latter fre- 
quently produces insomnia. Suggestibility is 
absent in the sleep state. Three essentials are 
necessary for the production of sleep, namely 
monotony of sensory impressions, limitation of 
voluntary movements, and inhibition. Of these 
three, the monotony of sensory impressions is 
the most important factor. In going to sleep, 
there is always an intermediary subwaking or 
hypnoidal state. This subwaking state is pres- 
ent, not only in man, but in the lower animals, 
such as dogs and kittens. Like Claparede, Sidis 
also considers sleep from the evolutionary stand- 
point. Sleep, therefore, biologically considered, 
is a reaction of protoplasm. It is as much an 
instinct as sex or hunger. Sleep is normal, 
psychological, not an evidence of the pathologi- 
cal, the diseased. Sleeping and waking are 
merely different manifestations of normal life- 
processes. When the organism becomes fa- 
tigued as the result of continued stimulation, 
those stimuli which have exhausted themselves 

1 Boris Sidis: "An Experimental Study of Sleep." — Journal 
Abnormal Psychology, Vol. Ill, No. 1-3, 1908. 



SLEEP 95 

or ceased to act on the organism by reason of 
their monotony, drop out and are replaced by 
new ones, until the whole round of stimuli has 
been gone through. Then the organism ceases 
to respond to the stimuli and falls asleep. 
Organisms, therefore, fall asleep when the 
threshold for stimulation rises, and waken when 
the threshold falls. 

We have thus briefly reviewed the princi- 
pal theories of sleep. None of these, however, 
can explain all the facts relative to sleep. They 
merely give us hints here and there as to 
the ultimate, underlying mechanism. Self- 
poisoning of the nervous system, exhaustion, 
changes in the cerebral circulation or the move- 
ments of the nerve cell prolongations, while 
plausible, are only apparently scientific. They 
have been weighed in the balance and found 
wanting, they do not explain the real mechanism 
of the sleep state. We know that there is no 
parallelism between sleep and fatigue, because 
sleep is periodic and may be postponed by 
excitement, interest, and even volition. Sleep 
is not a disease, it is a natural instinct of 
the organism. With these facts in mind, the 
only satisfactory theories of sleep are those 
that are based on purely biological con- 
ceptions. Even if these theories should not 
prove to be the final solution of the prob- 



96 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

lem, they are at present the best working 
hypotheses. 

In ordinary sleep, the eyelids are lowered, and 
a position is assumed by the sleeper which tends 
to a relaxation of all the voluntary muscles. 
Certain changes take place in the pulse and 
respiration, the blood-pressure falls, the thresh- 
old of consciousness becomes very low. The 
reflexes are diminished or may entirely disap- 
pear. The restorative and refreshing effect of 
natural sleep upon the tired nervous system is 
a fact well attested by everyday experiences. 
A profound sleep is refreshing; a broken sleep, 
even in snatches that are profound, or lying in a 
half-sleeping state, such as frequently occurs in 
insomnia, fails to restore the fatigued organ- 
ism. But even the pernicious effects of a com- 
plete insomnia are completely balanced by a 
few hours of profound sleep, as has been shown 
by certain experiments on the loss of sleep. 
Sleep rests and refreshes one because of the 
muscular immobility and relaxation during 
sleep, the internal organs become less active, 
the nervous system rests, there is a decided 
lowering of mental tension. In other words, 
during normal sleep, there is a distinct repara- 
tive action. 

What happens if the body is deprived of 
sleep? We will consider this question under 



SLEEP 99 

physical pain. It also occurs in many forms 
of nervous diseases, particularly neurasthenia. 
In this insomnia of neurasthenia, the subject is 
frequently in a half-waking and half -sleeping 
condition, with a hazy state of consciousness and 
limitation of muscular activity. Or sleep may 
be secured in snatches, but the slightest noise 
awakens the sleeper. Therefore, in spite of 
their statements, these individuals never suffer 
from complete insomnia; they sleep more than 
they realize. Extreme physical exhaustion 
alone may produce insomnia, a proof that sleep 
is not absolutely dependent on exhaustion of the 
nerve centres. Sleeplessness may also be due 
to an emotional shock, as in certain cases of 
hysterical insomnia. For instance, a patient 
became greatly frightened by an insane woman 
entering her store and throwing an entire box 
of lighted matches among some paper. The 
patient immediately became greatly agitated, 
began to dream of the episode at night, and 
one week later, an insomnia developed, which 
continued for five years, up to the time she 
came under observation. 

Sometimes insomnia may be due to the de- 
velopment of a fixed idea that sleep is impos- 
sible. One patient said, " I cannot get it out 
of my skull that I am not going to sleep." 
Janet had studied in great detail a case in which 



100 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

the sleeplessness was due to a fixed idea. 1 In 
this case, the patient developed a severe attack 
of typhoid fever four months after the death of 
her child. During convalescence from this ill- 
ness, she suffered from an almost continual 
visual hallucination of her dead child, particu- 
larly at night. After this sleeplessness de- 
veloped, and when she first came under Janet's 
observation, the patient claimed that she had 
not slept a wink for two years. This almost 
complete loss of sleep was verified by careful 
observation. During the day she complained 
of fatigue, and the facial expression was that 
of one half asleep. Drugs failed to induce 
sleep; hypnosis produced only light states of 
short duration, in which the patient would 
awaken suddenly, with an expression of terror. 
At night also, she would go into a half-drowsy 
condition and awaken suddenly, much terrified, 
saying that she had had a bad dream, but which 
was only vaguely remembered on awakening. 
When questioned during her somnolent state, it 
developed that the so-called dream consisted of 
an hallucination of her dead child. The insomnia 
was due to the fact that the hallucination de- 
veloped immediately after the somnolent con- 
dition took place ; the patient would then become 

1 Pierre Janet: " Nevrose et Id£es Fixes," Vol. I, pp. 354-374. 
(Chapter on " Insomnie par Idee Fixe Subconsciente.") 



SLEEP 101, 

terrified and waken. Here was clearly a case 
of insomnia due to a subconscious fixed idea. 

The depth of sleep is variable. We have the 
lighter subwaking states in which consciousness 
is almost perfectly preserved, the deeper somno- 
lent conditions in which dreams occur, and 
finally the deepest grades of sleep, in which 
consciousness is reduced to such a low threshold 
that it may be considered as being almost en- 
tirely obliterated. In these somnolent states 
the sense of the lapse of time is only partially 
obliterated, in deep sleep completely so; we may 
have slept for hours but on awakening we have 
the illusion that it has been only a few minutes. 
Sleep is most profound in the early part of the 
night or within the first half -hour after falling 
asleep, and it becomes more shallow during the 
early morning hours. It is of interest to note 
that it is just during these early morning hours, 
when sleep is lightest, that dreams are most apt 
to occur. The depth of sleep is measured either 
by the height from which a metallic ball must 
be dropped to awaken the sleeper or by the 
intensity of an electric current from an induc- 
tion coil. However, if there is an element of 
expectation, a very slight noise will awaken the 
sleeper, as in the case of a sleeping mother being 
awakened by a slight movement of her child. 

This subwaking state to which we have sev- 



102 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

eral times alluded, where the individual hovers 
between sleep and waking, is of great practical 
and scientific interest. When it occurs spon- 
taneously, it is technically known as the hyp- 
nagogic state; when it is experimentally pro- 
duced by listening to a monotonous sound 
stimulus, while the individual is in a state of 
muscular relaxation with limitation of volun- 
tary movements, it is called the hypnoidal con- 
dition (Sidis), or the state of induced or experi- 
mental distraction. The spontaneous hypna- 
gogic state may be only momentary in duration 
or it may last for fifteen minutes or more. It 
occurs just as one is falling asleep or as one is 
awakening from slumber. It appears that we 
never go to sleep or waken suddenly. There 
always intervenes this hypnagogic state between 
sleep on one side and awakening on the other, 
a state bordering on hypnosis, really a natural 
hypnotic state, particularly when it occurs just 
before the individual falls asleep. When sleep 
takes place, however, the relation of sleep to 
hypnosis ceases. This hypnagogic state occurs 
in all individuals and is markedly protracted in 
insomnia, particularly in those subjects who 
complain of absolute loss of sleep. In this 
hypnagogic state, many peculiar psychic and 
motor phenomena may appear, and there is also 
obtained, as in real hypnosis, a condition of in- 



SLEEP 103 

creased suggestibility, so that it possesses a 
certain therapeutic value. 

We will first consider a condition of muscu- 
lar activity, which is peculiar to the hypnagogic 
state. It is well known that even on being 
suddenly awakened from a deep sleep, full con- 
sciousness is not immediately regained. Com- 
plete consciousness is reached only after pass- 
ing through this intermediary hypnagogic state. 
In this state, there is sometimes an extreme 
difficulty in opening the eyelids, at other times 
a complete inability to move the limbs. After a 
time, however, and by continued effort of the 
will, the eyes can be opened or the limbs moved. 
When this point has been attained, conscious- 
ness has become completely restored and the 
hypnagogic state has entirely disappeared. 
Now this transitory paralysis of the limbs and 
eyes occurs frequently in normal individuals, 
but is only momentary. Sometimes, however, 
the phenomenon either occurs frequently or is 
greatly prolonged. Under both these condi- 
tions we are dealing with what I have called 
nocturnal paralysis. 1 When this paralysis is 
frequent or unduly prolonged, it becomes a 

1 " Nocturnal Paralysis." — Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, 
Vol. CLVLL, No. % July 11, 190T. (" Some Further Studies on 
Nocturnal Paralysis," Ibid. Vol. CLVLL, No. 23, December 5, 
1907.) 



104 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

genuine functional nervous disorder. In one of 
my cases, this inability to move the limbs lasted 
for fifteen minutes. A brief report of a case 
which came under personal observation will il- 
lustrate the matter more clearly than any de- 
scription. It refers to a patient in whom these 
distressing attacks of nocturnal paralysis had 
persisted for a number of years. After a 
sound sleep he would awaken suddenly, know 
where he was and who he was, but could not 
recall his name. Therefore, consciousness was 
not completely clear, a prominent characteristic 
of the hypnagogic state. In the attack the eyes 
were closed and the limbs rigid. He was unable 
to open the eyes, to move the limbs, or to cry 
out. The duration of the individual attacks 
averaged about three minutes and they occurred 
about once a week. In another subject the 
condition of nocturnal paralysis was vividly 
described as " I feel like a doll whose eyes can 
be opened but who cannot move the limbs." 

The condition in all these cases is only a dis- 
sociation of consciousness reacting most strongly 
on the motor mechanism. It bears no relation 
to epilepsy, as one writer would lead us to be- 
lieve. Neither does sudden awakening from 
sound sleep bear any relation to the disorder, 
for in some personal experiments on sleeping 
animals which were suddenly awakened by a 



SLEEP 105 

loud noise, not even a temporary muscular 
rigidity took place. 

Other peculiar phenomena occur in this hyp- 
nagogic state. Hallucinations of hearing may 
take place, or in the case of the patient cited 
above who heard a voice repeating, " Lower the 
jib." Sometimes there are heard loud sounds 
like a gong or a piece of falling metal, and the 
half -sleeping subject is suddenly awakened by 
these sense deceptions. Occasionally there are 
shock-like startings of the body or a sensation as 
if falling. A condition called catalepsy may 
also arise, in which the limbs can be molded 
like a piece of lead pipe and kept in a strained 
position for some time, without any apparent 
sense of fatigue. Horrible dreams may take 
place with a sense of great fear, as in the night 
terrors of children. Occasionally, the hallucina- 
tions are those of touch, either a light touch or a 
sensation as if we were gripped in a vise. When 
this latter occurs, there is usually associated a 
terrifying dream with great fear and a sense of 
impending suffocation or death. This is the so- 
called nightmare. In the case of a woman, there 
arose a sense of an awful calamity about to 
overtake the patient, a deformed man would 
seem to spring on her, and she would think, 
" It has overtaken me, this is the end of all." 
Then she would cry out and the scream would 



106 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

awaken her. In another case the patient felt 
as if she were grasping something, a pencil or 
a person's wrist; sometimes the sensation would 
be as if the fingers and toes were swelling to the 
bursting point. These nightmares have also 
been interpreted as nocturnal states of anxiety, 
based upon certain repressed mental conflicts. 
These hypnagogic hallucinations have been 
utilized with great imaginative effectiveness by 
Guy De Maupassant. In his novelette, " Le 
Horla " he describes the development of an 
incipient mental disease. The sufferer in ques- 
tion was a victim of insomnia and believed that 
he was pursued and haunted by an imaginary 
being. Then in terribly laconic sentences, the 
author gives us a most vivid description of the 
following condition, which is really a hypna- 
gogic hallucination, a kind of a night terror. 
" Then I lay down and waited for sleep as one 
waits an execution. . . . My heart beat and my 
legs trembled; my entire body started in the 
warmth of the sheets, up to the moment when I 
suddenly fell asleep, as one falls into an abyss of 
stagnant water when dreaming. ... I slept — 
a long time — two or three hours — then a dream 
— no, a nightmare took hold of me. I felt that I 
was lying down and that I was asleep — I felt 
it and saw it — and I also had the feeling that 
some one approached me, looked at me, touched 



SLEEP 107 

me, mounted on my bed, knelt on my chest, 
took my neck between his hands and squeezed — 
with all his force to strangle me. I struggled, 
bound by this atrocious power. ... I tried to 
ciy out — but was unable to; — I tried to move — 
I was unable to; I tried with fearful efforts, 
panting for breath, to turn, to throw off this 
Being who crushed and stifled me — I was un- 
able to. And suddenly I awoke, covered with 
perspiration. I lit a candle. I was alone." 

There are a number of conditions which out- 
wardly resemble sleep, yet are distinct from it. 
The so-called African sleeping-sickness, which 
occurs with the greatest frequency in the region 
around the Congo River, is a condition of 
gradually increasing stupor, which terminates 
in death. It is caused by a micro-organism be- 
longing to the Protozoon group, which is found 
in the blood and central nervous system, and is 
transmitted by a certain African fly. A morbid 
disposition to sleep, coming on in sudden at- 
tacks, and characterized either by mere drowsi- 
ness or complete unconsciousness, is sometimes 
seen in hysteria and particularly in epilepsy, 
This condition is called narcolepsy and the at- 
tacks are designated as narcoleptic attacks. A 
form of stupor, outwardly resembling sleep, 
is seen in some forms of mental disease, particu- 
larly adolescent insanity. The sleep of anes- 



108 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

thetics, such as ether or chloroform, is due to 
the direct chemical action of these drugs upon 
the brain. Here the analogy with sleep ends, 
because the depth of unconsciousness produced 
by these anesthetics is much greater than in 
normal sleep, as shown by the complete insensi- 
bility to pain. It must be admitted, however, 
that before ether or chloroform anesthesia be- 
comes complete, there is always a preceding 
semi-drowsy state, the same as occurs just 
before normal sleep. 

Hypnosis only outwardly resembles normal 
sleep. The relation of sleep to lrypnosis will 
be discussed in the chapter relating to this lat- 
ter condition. Sleep walking or somnambulism, 
in which many complicated and seemingly nat- 
ural acts are executed with a loss of memory 
for these acts, occurs not only in the disease 
hysteria, but also in normal individuals. In 
both instances, it is probably a form of mental 
dissociation. The amnesia is only an apparent 
one, as the memory may be recovered by appro- 
priate methods. In one case of somnambulism, 
it was possible to restore the memory for all 
the complex acts of the period, although this 
period was of an hour's duration. 



CHAPTER VI 

DREAMS 

Dreaming, like sleeping, is one of the mys- 
teries of our psychic life. For centuries, dreams 
have had a peculiar fascination for man. The 
world of dreams, because it was so distorted and 
so fantastic, has been interpreted as having an 
entirely different significance from the waking 
world. The occult significance of dreams has 
given another coloring to literature, folk lore, 
and even religion. But while the ancients were 
particularly concerned with the prophetic na- 
ture of dreams, the modern investigator has 
busied himself in an attempt to fathom out the 
psychological mechanism of " the stuff that 
dreams are made of." 

In this chapter we will discuss the subject of 
dreams from the purely psychological stand- 
point, as manifestations of certain forms of dis- 
sociations of consciousness. We will leave un- 
touched, as foreign to our subject, the statistics 
of dreams or of their interpretation from the 
standpoint of symbolism, prophecy, telepathy, 
atavism, or premonitions of the future. These 

109 



110 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

latter aspects belong more strictly to the field 
of psychical research, than to that of abnormal 
psychology, and though many remarkable dream 
experiences have been collected, the effort to 
establish a supernormal basis has not been suc- 
cessful. The attempts to interpret the under- 
lying mechanism of dreams are recent. Modern 
science has stripped much of the cloak of mys- 
tery from dreams and laid bare to critical view 
the cold, dry facts. These facts in themselves 
are just as interesting as any supernormal in- 
terpretations, and what is more to the point, 
are more valuable. 

The modern investigations of dreams have 
assumed several distinct aspects. In order that 
the reader may have a clear view of the entire 
field, the following summary of these investiga- 
tions may be made: 

1. Investigations of dreams from the super- 
normal standpoint, what is generally known as 
the field of psychical research just referred to. 

2. The study of dreams from the purely 
statistical standpoint, as in the investigations of 
Sante de Sanctis and Miss Calkins and her 
pupils. 

In both of these publications the method 
used was that of introspection, the dreamer 
being asked to record his dream immediately on 
awakening. Miss Calkins investigated the 



DREAMS 111 

dreams of normal persons. She found that 
dreams occurred usually during the light morn- 
ing sleep and that there was a very close con- 
nection between dreaming and the experiences 
of waking life. Illusions of memory and dis- 
tortions of facts, and of the time element were 
quite frequent. She divided dreams into two 
types — the presentation type, or those occasioned 
or accompanied by peripheral excitation, and 
the representation type, those of purely central 
or cerebral origin. The largest number of 
dreams were visual in nature, then followed in 
order, auditory, touch, taste, and olfactory 
dreams. As our visual apparatus is most 
active during the waking state, so visual dreams 
are the most frequent, while pure auditory 
dreams occur frequently in musicians. 

Sante De Sanctis not only studied the nor- 
mal dreams in children, adults, and the aged, 
but also the dreams of criminals and animals, 
the insane and in certain nervous diseases, such 
as hysteria, epilepsy, neurasthenia. He con- 
cludes that even animals and very young chil- 
dren dream, and that the dreams of old people 
are less vivid than in adults. These dreams of 
the aged tend to disappear quickly on awaken- 
ing, in harmony with the weakness of memory 
for recent events in old age. In hysteria the 
dreams are very intense and have a strong emo- 



112 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

tional coloring. In epilepsy the dreams are less 
complex than in hysteria; neurasthenics dream 
frequently, the dreams resembling those of hys- 
teria, but are less intense and not so well re- 
called on awakening. The insane frequently 
dream of their hallucinations and delusions. 

3. The purely psychological researches of the 
mechanism of dreams, such as the publications 
of Freud x and Tissie 2 and the investigations 
of the content of dream consciousness, as in the 
dreams of the blind. 3 

4. The interpretations of dreams from the 
standpoint of dissociated mental states, as in 
multiple personality, functional amnesia, and the 
dream-like hallucinations resulting from the ac- 
tion of certain toxic drugs, such as alcohol, 
opium, and hashish. Part of these belong to 
purely scientific literature, as in the modern 
studies of dissociations of consciousness, and part 
to the dream-hallucinations of certain imagina- 
tive writers, for instance De Quincey and Baude- 
laire, yet possessing a certain scientific value. 
Finally we have introspective accounts of in- 
telligent patients who have recovered from 
alcoholic delirium. These two latter groups, the 
mechanism of dreams and their occurrence and 

^igm. Freud: "Die Traumdeutung," 1909. 
2 Ph. Tissie: "Les Reves," 1890. 

8 J. Jastrow: "The Dreams of the Blind." (In 'Fact and 
Fable in Psychology,' 1900.) 



DREAMS 113 

interpretation in states of mental dissociation, 
will form the chief subject-matter of this 
chapter. 

Freud has been foremost in the investigation 
of the mechanism of dreams. According to 
him, the dreamer lives in another world. This 
dream world consists merely of his distorted 
waking experiences, whether these are the sup- 
pressed, painful memories of the waking life 
or whether they consist of experiences of which 
the waking individual is not aware. Like the de- 
lusions and hallucinations of the insane, dreams 
have their origin in our waking experiences; we 
cannot dream of things which we do not know, 
or which we have not actually experienced our- 
selves. Of course, we may be unable to trace 
the origin of a particular dream, especially if 
it is a long dormant memory of a subconscious 
episode. This " tremendous scenery which peo- 
ples dreams " must at some time or another in 
the past have been registered in our brain, in 
the same way that the cylinder of a phonograph 
registers vibrations, to be later reproduced as 
articulate language. Dreams, therefore, are 
memories of previous experiences, no matter 
how distorted or fantastic they may appear. 
These memories are often very vivid in dreams, 
more vivid than the memories of the waking 
life. 



114 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

Dreams are not phenomena of accidental 
origin, but have a hidden meaning and are 
related to either dissociated, suppressed, or 
dormant past experiences, and originate chiefly 
in the subconscious mental life. In dreaming, 
the experiences may be distorted in their char- 
acter (called paramnesia), or the time element 
may be disturbed (anachronism), either by the 
imagination or by external stimuli. The central 
nucleus remains, however — the element of recog- 
nition is not absent. For instance, we may 
dream of something that we knew took place 
long ago, not to ourselves, but to others, and 
yet it may seem to happen at present and we 
may be the chief actor in that particular dream. 
Dreams are not insignificant and without value. 
They lay bare the innermost secrets of the 
heart, past experiences, wishes, desires. Our 
subconscious mental life is filled with experi- 
ences struggling to enter consciousness, and in 
sleep, when there is no longer any dissociation, 
these experiences enter consciousness and are 
interpreted as dreams. In sleep, the censorship 
of the normal waking consciousness is removed, 
the suppressed or dissociated experiences gain 
the upper hand and, colored by the imagination, 
they form new combinations resulting in a weird 
phantasmagoria. The mechanism of dreams is, 
therefore, similar to the dissociations of an 



DREAMS 115 

everyday waking life, into which these subcon- 
scious elements so largely enter. With great 
ingenuity, Freud traces out the origin of a num- 
ber of dreams and shows that each element has 
a co-existing subconscious or co-conscious state 
and is the symbolic expression of a repressed or 
buried complex. 

Dreams have two principal sources: — (1) 
Those arising from external stimuli during 
sleep and becoming distorted in consciousness, 
and (2) those having purely an internal origin, 
as manifestations of conscious, suppressed, or 
dissociated experiences. In those dreams caused 
by external stimuli, the intensity of the dream- 
state is much greater than the stimulus which 
gave rise to the dream. A number of external 
conditions may thus be factors in the develop- 
ment of a dream, such as the position of the 
body, a loud noise, or a sudden light that strikes 
the face of the sleeper, uncovering of the bed 
clothes so as to expose a portion of the body, 
hunger, thirst, impeded respiration, pain, etc. 
For instance, in Maury's experiments on 
dreams, when the sleeping subject was tickled 
on the lips and nostrils with a feather, there 
arose a dream of terrible torture, the subject 
dreaming that a mask of pitch had been placed 
on his face and then pulled away so that the 
skin of the face came with it. When water 



116 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

was dropped on the forehead, he dreamed that 
he was in Italy perspiring freely and drinking 
white wine. 

A dream may sometimes follow a glance at 
a book or newspaper account. One subject 
dreamed of a man on a lonely island in the 
middle of the ocean, and traced this to the 
reading of newspaper accounts of Dreyfus on 
Devil's Island. In another person, after a 
glance at a book treating of Egyptian life and 
manners, the following dream took place the 
same night. He dreamed that he was in an 
ancient Egyptian city, and about him were mas- 
sive buildings and monuments, adorned with 
hieroglyphics. Crowds of people were present; 
it seemed to be the occasion of some great festi- 
val or holiday. He was taken to the roof of a 
high building by a number of men in military 
dress, there he was bound hand and foot and 
lowered a short distance below the roof by 
means of a rope. One of the soldiers took an 
axe and cut the rope, and he fell an immeasur- 
able distance to the ground. At this point, just 
before touching the ground, he awoke. 

These are all examples of simple dreams. 
Sometimes external stimuli give rise to very 
complex dream experiences, as in the elaborate 
taste dream related by Hammond. 1 

1 This account is taken from Manaceine: "Sleep," pp. 260-261. 



DREAMS 117 

"A young lady sought to cure herself of the habit of 
thumb sucking acquired in babyhood by covering the 
offending thumb with extract of aloes. During the 
night she dreamed that she was crossing the ocean in a 
steamer made of wormwood and that the vessel was 
furnished throughout with the same material, and the 
emanation so pervaded all parts of the ship that it was 
impossible to breathe without tasting the bitterness ; 
everything that she ate or drank was likewise impreg- 
nated from the flavor. When she arrived at Havre she 
asked for a glass of water to wash the taste from her 
mouth, but they brought her an infusion of wormwood, 
which she gulped down because she was thirsty. She 
sent to Paris and consulted a famous physician, beg- 
ging him to do something which would extract the 
wormwood from her body. He told her there was but 
one remedy, and that was ox-gall. This he gave her 
by the pound, and in a few weeks the wormwood was all 
gone, but the ox-gall had taken its place and was fully 
as bitter and disagreeable. To get rid of the ox-gall 
she was advised to take counsel of the Pope. She ac- 
cordingly went to Rome and obtained an audience of 
the Holy Father. He told her that she must make a 
pilgrimage to the plain where the pillar of salt stood, 
into which Lot's wife was transformed, and must eat a 
piece of the salt as big as her thumb. She did so and 
awoke to find that she had sucked all the aloes off the 
thumb." 

Dreams are manifestations of a persistent 
consciousness during sleep. We dream only 



118 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

when this consciousness persists, or is active to 
a certain degree. Therefore, two things are nec- 
essary for dreaming — the persistence of a cer- 
tain amount of consciousness during sleep and 
a certain activity of this persistent consciousness. 
It has been said that a sound sleep is dreamless, 
but if dreams do occur in sound sleep, we have 
no proof of the fact, because we have no mem- 
ory of them on awakening. It is extremely 
doubtful, however, if there is enough of this 
persistent consciousness in a really sound sleep, 
to form any dreams. Of course lack of memory 
after a deep sleep is no proof that there was no 
conscious activity during this time and dream- 
ing did not take place, because in deep hypnotic 
states mental activity goes on, but there is no 
memory of this activity on regaining the normal 
waking condition. The same might be true of 
deep sleep. If dreams only occur in light sleep 
or in the intermediate sleep states, we remember 
them, but this does not prove that dreams are 
absent in deep sleep, because we do not remem- 
ber them. Under ordinary circumstances, we 
are able to recollect only a small portion of our 
mental activity during sleep. However, the 
weight of evidence seems to show that dreams 
occur only in light sleep or in the intermediate 
(hypnagogic) sleep states. The latter, as was 
previously pointed out, is a kind of a natural 



DREAMS 119 

hypnotic condition. In light hypnosis, isolated 
dream-like hallucinations may take place, as 
in one of my subjects who insisted that I pulled 
his coat sleeve while he was hypnotized, when in 
reality I sat at some distance from him. In 
Patrick's and Gilbert's experiments on the loss 
of sleep, one of the subjects reported a dream 
while he was standing up gazing at a piece of 
apparatus. At this time he was evidently par- 
tially asleep, although he considered himself 
fully awake. One of the best proofs that 
dreams occur only in the intermediate sleeping 
states is — that we scarcely ever finish a dream. 
We always awaken at a particular part, at a 
critical moment, namely, the part at which the 
emotional element, usually fear, is the most 
vivid. The dream is unfinished, probably be- 
cause we are on the road to awakening while we 
dream. As we become more and more awake, 
the dream ceases. This awakening at a par- 
ticular vivid moment of a dream was seen in 
Janet's case of insomnia due to a subconscious 
fixed idea, and also in our case of Mrs. Y., who 
displayed four hypnotic personalities. As this 
latter case will be studied in full in another 
chapter, we will give only the essentials of a 
peculiar recurrent dream. At the moment of 
falling asleep, the patient would experience 
with great intensity the following dream. She 



120 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

would see a surgeon robed in white and with 
his sleeves rolled up, working at the back of the 
head of the patient herself and taking stitches 
in the scalp. This dream was only momentary, 
and every time she experienced it she would 
awaken immediately. 

The most interesting dreams are those which 
occur in certain dissociations of consciousness, 
such as hysteria, multiple personality, amnesia, 
and in recurrent dream states. Studies of the 
dream life in these conditions have furnished us 
with valuable information concerning the exact 
nature of these dissociations and have proven 
that dreams are merely waking experiences 
which appear during sleep, but of which the 
waking subject has no memory except as a 
dream. In states of psychopathic dissociation, 
dreams have their origin in the waking experi- 
ences of the individual. They are experiences 
of the original primary personality of which 
there is no memory in the waking state. These 
dreams appear without apparent reason, are 
strange and peculiar, and not synthetized with 
the waking or sleeping personality. 

In the case of Susan N., 1 a study of the 
dreams proved valuable and interesting and 
illustrated these points in an admirable manner. 

1M The Lowell Case of Amnesia." — Journal Abnormal Psy~ 
chology," Vol. II, No. 3, August-September, 1907. 



DREAMS 121 

In this case, after an attack of prolonged 
stupor, the patient awoke to find that the mem- 
ory of her whole previous life, from the time 
of her birth, was completely obliterated. In 
sleep, however, the patient dreamed of episodes 
for which she had no memory in her waking 
state and the dreams were, therefore, interpreted 
as purely imaginative creations. Strangely 
enough, identical dreams were frequently re- 
peated. The dream records were taken verba- 
tim from the patient and one of these is as 
follows : 

" One dream stands out very clear. This 
was several weeks ago. It seems as if a man 
and woman came to see me, and they told 
me they were relatives of mine and were 
willing to take care of me. So they sent me 
off with them, and we travelled quite a dis- 
tance. On part of the road there seemed to be 
trees growing on both sides, not very close to- 
gether, and after a time they came to a house, 
and after they took me inside the man com- 
menced to beat me and the woman to pull my 
hair out. The man had coarse whiskers, and 
I think I'd know the woman if I should see 
her." This dream was repeated several times 
in an identical manner. As an interesting 
and valuable sequel to the above, one after- 
noon later in the year the patient was taken 



122 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

for a drive to her old home, in an effort to 
ascertain if she could recognize any of the 
scenes of her childhood and early youth. But 
everything was strange and unfamiliar to her; 
the old cemetery, a former schoolmate who 
was encountered in the village road, and even 
the building in which she had formerly taught 
school. She was taken up the road to the 
house where her brother and sister lived, and 
on reaching it, she immediately said, " This 
is the house of my dreams. I can see very 
plainly the man dragging me off the wagon 
and the woman pulling my hair up those two 
steps and through the piazza into the kitchen in 
the back." On being confronted by her sister, 
the patient exclaimed, " That is the woman of 
my dream," and although immediately recog- 
nized by her sister, Susan N. disclaimed all 
knowledge of her and was very frigid in her 
manner. In sleep, the patient had merely re- 
produced an episode which had occurred during 
her past life previous to the stupor. While 
sleeping, there was no dissociation, consciousness 
was completely synthetized. As she had no 
memory of this episode in her waking state, it 
was interpreted as merely a dream. 

In Sidis's case of the Rev. Mr. Hanna, many 
of the lost memories appeared during dreams, 1 

1U Multiple Personality," 19C5. 



DREAMS 123 

In this case, as in that of Susan N., the patient 
had lost all memory of his life experiences. 
This extensive amnesia followed an accident. 
But that the loss of memory was only apparent, 
that all the events were retained in the sub- 
conscious mental life, as in the Lowell Case of 
Amnesia, was proved by an extensive investiga- 
tion. All the dreams of Mr. Hanna, the places 
spoken of, as well as the persons mentioned, 
were fully identified by the patient's father. 
Sometimes the dream pictures were very simple. 
On one occasion, he dreamed of " a horse with 
long ears and with a tail like a cow. Never saw 
anything like it. The horse produced such 
queer sounds." The animal seen in this dream 
was evidently a donkey, the patient not having 
seen one since the loss of memory following the 
accident. On other occasions, the dreams were 
more complex and related to scenes in the Penn- 
sylvania coal district, where the patient had 
previously lived. Sometimes he dreamed of 
journeys which were actual experiences in his 
former life. None of these dreams were recog- 
nized as former experiences but were interpreted 
as strange dreams of his present life. 

We have seen how dissociated experiences 
could appear in sleep and how the subject would 
interpret these experiences, on awakening, as 
mere idle dreams. There is another aspect of 



124 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

the question that must be briefly considered. In 
more complex cases of mental dissociation lead- 
ing to multiple personality, do the waking ex-» 
periences of these personalities appear during 
sleep? It has been shown that in sleep, there 
is a more or less complete synthesis of the lost 
memories which are interpreted as dreams. 
Does the same thing take place in multiple 
personality? Are the dreams of the different 
personalities the same, no matter how different 
the experiences of the waking life? Let us see. 
In the case of Miss Beauchamp, 1 who developed 
four distinct personalities, each with a distinct 
and separate mental life during the waking 
state, it was shown that in sleep two of the 
personalities, called B. I. and B. IV. " reverted 
to a common consciousness and became one and 
the same. That is to say, the dreams were com- 
mon to both; each, B. I. and B. IV,, had the 
same dreams, and each remembered them after- 
wards as her own." These dreams were well 
remembered and recorded by " Sally," one of 
the personalities, who, according to her own 
statement, was awake the greater part of the 
night. 

Occasionally dream states will show a peculiar 
periodicity, in that they are liable to occur at 
certain times, the interval being entirely free 

1 Morton Prince: "The Dissociation of a Personality," 1905. 



DREAMS 125 

from dreaming. This recurrent dream state 
was particularly well marked in one of my 
cases. It related to a young woman who began 
to have distressing dreams following the death 
of her mother. These dreams showed a pecu- 
liar cycle, in that they reappeared every few 
weeks and would continue for several nights. 
The dream never occurred in the interval. 
Each dream was identical, the content being 
about as follows: 

" I dreamed that I was out walking with my mother, 
near the place where she died. I walked to the top of 
the hill, looked around and came down, holding on to 
my mother's arm. Suddenly my mother fell fainting. 
I tried to cry out, but could not make a sound. I ran 
to the house to get assistance, but I came back alone 
and found that my mother had grown old and haggard- 
looking and was dressed in black. Then I woke up." 

Hysterical paralysis and contractures some- 
times follow a dream. Under these conditions, 
the subject dreams of the identical paralysis or 
contracture which comes on after awakening. 
Whether the dissociated state of a purely 
imaginary dream is projected into the waking 
life or whether an emotional shock occurs dur- 
ing the awakening, is dissociated in sleep and 
reproduced as a dream, is a question that can- 
not be answered with certainty until we have 



126 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

more data on these curious phenomena. In a 
case reported by Janet, the patient developed a 
contracture of the hands following a vivid 
dream of piano playing. In another the sub- 
ject dreamed that he was falling and awoke to 
find a beginning paralysis of the right arm and 
leg. That his paralysis was purely functional 
in nature was demonstrated by further investi- 
gation. In a case of hysterical paralysis which 
came under personal observation, the following 
curious condition was present. While walking, 
the patient would suddenly experience a sense 
of severe weakness in the legs, then there would 
follow a sensation " as if I had no legs," and 
she would fall. These episodes would occur a 
number of times during the day but only when 
the patient was walking. On further analysis, 
it appeared that there was no history of an emo- 
tional shock, but during the week previous to 
her first attack, she dreamed that she was walk- 
ing down a hill, then suddenly fell down and 
landed full length on her face. This sensation 
of falling did not awaken the patient at once, 
but when she did awaken, she felt perfectly 
normal. The dream was not repeated, but 
a week elapsed before the weakness of the 
legs developed. Here we have a condition 
almost identical with the cases reported by 
Janet. 



DREAMS 127 

Let us now take an ordinary dream and at- 
tempt to trace out a portion of the elements 
which enter into the dream consciousness. As 
an example, I take the following dream related 
by one of my patients : " I dreamed that I was 
walking through the snow with L. The snow 
was up to my knees. I went into a house to get 
a hat made, and I went into another house near 
by. When I came into the house, I saw two 
bedrooms; one was my room and the other be- 
longed to some one else. These two bedrooms 
were off the hall. As I went into my own bed- 
room, I passed by the open door of the other. 
An old lady lay in bed — dying. I went to bed 
and slept in my dream. Then the dying wom- 
an's mother, who appeared to be already dead, 
came to me in my sleep. She was dressed in 
white and had long claw-like nails. The hands 
and fingers were pure white. She awakened 
me by clawing at me and I awakened in my 
dream. Then she grinned at me, but I was 
very sleepy and only opened my eyes for a mo- 
ment and tried to raise my hand and beckon 
her to go away." 

Let us trace the principal elements of this 
dream. 

'' Walking through the snow ": The weather 
was very warm on that day, the patient had 
read a poem on snow in a newspaper, with 



128 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

an editorial comment on the contrast in the 
weather. 

fC To get a hat made ": The sister of the L. 
dreamed about was a milliner. 

" An old lady lay in bed dying ": The 
mother of the patient had recently been ill in 
bed, following a surgical operation. 

"Long claw-like finger nails": The patient 
had been recently interested in antique furniture 
with claw legs. 

Dream-like hallucinations are the frequent 
accompaniment of the intoxication by certain 
drugs, particularly alcohol, opium, and hashish. 
The distorted state of consciousness produced 
by these poisons bears a strong relationship 
to ordinary dreaming. Under these conditions, 
also, the dreams are merely distorted experi- 
ences. Readers of De Quincey will remember 
how all the minute incidents of his life, his stud- 
ies in literature and philosophy, furnished the 
key to " that tremendous scenery which after- 
ward peopled the dreams of the opium eater." 
The same fact holds true of the dreams of 
the hashish habitue, as related in the Artificial 
Paradise of Baudelaire. One of my patients 
furnished me with a very vivid written account 
of his dream-like hallucinations, on recovery 
from an attack of delirium tremens^ The fan- 
tastic and shifting character of this narrative 



DREAMS 129 

and its distortion of actual experiences is prac- 
tically a dream, but a dream experienced dur- 
ing an abnormal alcoholic delirium and not dur- 
ing a normal sleep. In part it is as follows — 
" There was a face at every post and every time 
I'd go by they'd swear and gibe at me for what 
I had done during life. These faces made me a 
promise that if I'd shake hands with a certain 
fellow, they'd give me peace and wouldn't tor- 
ment me. So finally this fellow came along 
and I remember shaking hands with him, and 
after that those voices asked me if I wanted to 
stay on earth and work or go with them to the 
Father above. So they finally persuaded me to 
follow them. Then they asked me to relate all 
my life and I started to tell them from the 
cradle to the grave. I wouldn't have to speak 
or talk, before they'd divine it. Two spirits 
conversed with each other. One was supposed 
to be God. As soon as I'd try to hesitate on 
any part of my life that I wouldn't like ex- 
posed, they seemed to say ' Now he hesitates/ 
All during this time there was a mumbling 
sound, as if we were riding in a chariot, and 
we heard electrical music on all sides, and I 
related my history from the cradle. I felt mov- 
ing all the time. Every moment or so, a friend 
or a face that I had forgotten appeared and 
greeted me, until finally an angel opened a trap 



130 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

above and showed us something grand beyond — 
music, angels, flowers, and every one seemed 
clothed in a garb of gold. Then all became 
darkness again and spirits appeared. We felt 
them in the vacuum around us and voices kept 
telling us that our journey was getting shorter, 
and at a certain stage I was shown my mother, 
and she told me that we would soon meet to 
part no more. So we reached a place where 
our friends all gathered around us and they 
said that on the morrow we would see eternal 
light. But the angel said that moments were 
counted in thousands of years. All our flesh 
and blood was to fade away. The spirit of a 
girl that I had been going with was there and 
she was to take my place when I faded away. 
During this time the gasps of the dying could 
be heard and I was left alone with the spirit of 
this girl. Finally a voice shouted, ' Tom, you'll 
be there to-morrow. Throw away your earthly 
possessions.' Then the darkness disappeared 
and then, as though by magic, the Wonderland 
of Heaven appeared to me. The sky was sap- 
phire blue, studded with diamonds and there 
was a vast amphitheatre and beings clothed in 
gold, emerald, and precious stones." 

The dreams of the blind have furnished us 
interesting proof of the dependence of dreams 
on waking sensory experiences. It was shown 



DREAMS 131 

by Jastrow that if the blindness took place be- 
fore the seventh year, the dreams were never 
of the visual type; if after the seventh year, the 
dreams were very likely to be the same as those 
of a seeing individual. In Laura Bridgeman, 
the blind deaf mute, sight and hearing were as 
absent from her dreams as from the waking 
world. For instance, if she dreamed of an ani- 
mal she became aware of its presence only when 
it touched her. The value of educational experi- 
ences in dreams is well exemplified in the ac- 
count of the dreams of Helen Keller, prepared 
for Professor Jastrow. For instance, she says, 
" My dreams have strangely changed during the 
past twelve years. Before and after my teacher 
first came to me, they were devoid of sound or 
thought or emotion of any kind, except fear, 
and only came in the form of sensations. . . . 
I dreamed of a wolf, which seemed to rush to- 
wards me and put his cruel teeth deep into my 
body. I could not speak . . . and I tried 
to scream; but no sound escaped from my 
lips. . . . Occasionally I dream that I am 
reading with my fingers, either Braille or line 
print." Later, when oral speech was estab- 
lished through education, talking in the finger 
alphabet disappeared from her dreams. 



CHAPTER VII 

WHAT IS HYPNOSIS? 

We will now take up the discussion of per- 
haps the most important artificially induced 
mental condition, namely, hypnosis. As a com- 
plete understanding of the subject can only 
be obtained by an insight into other related 
conditions we will turn very briefly to certain 
closely allied states, such as normal absent- 
mindedness, conditions of experimental distrac- 
tion, and the hypnagogic state. 
^Hypnotism was made use of by the Egyptian 
priests, in the Middle Ages it became bound up 
by certain occult doctrines, and even to-day in 
India the mystic fakirs openly exhibit hypnotic 
phenomena in public. But it was only toward 
the end of the eighteenth century that the scien- 
tific world began to take hypnotism seriously. 
Finally through the work of a group of French 
investigators the phenomena of hypnosis were 
stripped of occultism and mysticism and be- 
came a well-recognized scientific procedure. 

The theories of hypnosis have been many, and 
like sleep it has had its biological, physiological, 

132 



WHAT IS HYPNOSIS? 133 

and psychological interpretations. Even to- 
day, in spite of the immense amount of work 
which has been done on the subject, there is no 
agreement as to its exact nature, although all 
agree as to its multiform manifestations. It 
is not our purpose to go into the history of 
hypnosis, but rather to discuss the nature of the 
brain state involved in the phenomenon. We 
will take up very briefly the most prominent 
theories which have been propounded to explain 
the condition, and finally discuss some of the 
very recent investigations. Before we examine 
hypnosis in man it will be best to show how cer- 
tain allied conditions may be found in animals 
and trace their evolution upwards in the same 
manner in which we traced the evolution of 
sleep. 

The physiologist Max Verworn has given us 
very interesting descriptions of hypnosis in 
animals and has illustrated it by some rather 
striking photographs. He says, " It may suffice 
to recall a few well-known phenomena. The 
ancient experiments of the Egyptian snake 
charmers, which Moses and Aaron performed 
before the Egyptian Pharaoh more than three 
thousand years ago, belong to this category 
[i.e. 3 hypnosis in animals]. By slight pressure 
in the neck region, it is possible to make a 
wildly excited, hissing, erect asp [hooded snake] 



134 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

suddenly motionless, so that the dangerous 
creature can be put into any desired position 
without fear of its fatal bite. The well-known 
experiment of Father Kircher depends upon 
same causes. If an excited fowl be seized sud- 
denly with a firm grip and laid carefully upon 
its back, after a few brief attempts to escape 
it lies motionless. Guinea pigs, rabbits, frogs, 
lizards, crabs, and numerous other animals be- 
have similarly." According to Verworn, the 
hypnosis of human beings depends upon the 
same physiological mechanism, that is, an inhibi- 
tion of the will. 1 

Forel, as the result of his extensive investiga- 
tions in comparative psychology, particularly on 
the nervous reactions of ants, concludes that a 
number of symptoms of human hypnosis may 
occur in animals, not only muscular rigidity 
but also extreme anaesthesia. He describes the 
hypnosis of animals as due not to fear nor to the 
abnormal position in which one places the ani- 
mal, but to a simplified, more automatic sug- 
gestion mechanism, which mechanism can be 
induced at times by fixation of the look or of the 
body. He claims that the lethargic sleeping 
condition of the dormouse and some other ani- 
mals is due to a simple physiological cataleptic 

*Max Verworn: "General Physiology, An Outline of the 
Science of Life." 



WHAT IS HYPNOSIS? 135 

state, which is induced by the action of sug- 
gestion, adapted to a definite purpose and in- 
serted in the linkings of instinct. 1 Whether 
these experiments in animals are genuine hyp- 
nosis or mere muscular rigidity, is difficult to 
determine. Suggestibility increased over the 
normal is the most prominent manifestation of 
the hypnotic state, but whether this increased 
suggestibility occurs in animals, it is impossible 
to tell. 

Like sleep, hypnosis has had many theories 
offered for its explanation. The older ideas of 
Mesmer that the hypnotic state was due to a 
special magnetic fluid, and of Braid that it was 
caused through exhaustion by over-stimulation 
of the special senses, particularly sight, need 
only to be mentioned as matters of historical 
interest. Charcot, who brought his keen insight 
to the analysis of hypnosis as well as of hysteria, 
believed that the hypnotic state was nothing 
more than an artificial or an experimental nerv- 
ous condition; a neurosis brought on by some 
technical device and closely allied to hysteria. 
This view, that hypnosis is nothing but artificial 
hysteria, has been insisted upon by other mem- 
bers of the modern French school and also in a 
modified form by Freud. According to this 

1 August Forel: "Hypnotism and Psychotherapy," 1907. (See 
particularly Chapter XIV.) 



136 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

school hypnosis can be sharply divided into three 
distinct states : namely, the lethargic, the catalep- 
tic, and the somnambulistic. That this division 
is a purely artificial one, and that subjects of 
hypnosis may or may not show any of the 
phenomena included in these states, we hope to 
demonstrate later. 

According to Bernheim and the Nancy school 
hypnosis is nothing but a special form of sleep 
induced by suggestion. There is no relation 
between hysteria and hypnosis. There are dif- 
ferent depths of hypnosis in the same manner 
that there are different depths of sleep, a view 
which is also held by Forel. Bechterew also 
claims that hypnosis is a special modification 
of normal sleep, but his theory differs from that 
of Bernheim in claiming that the hypnotic state 
can be induced by physical as well as by psychi- 
cal means, without any element of suggestion. 

The histological theories have been applied in 
the attempts to explain hypnosis in the same 
manner in which they have been applied to 
natural sleep. This theory states that hypnosis 
is due to the amoeboid motions which are sup- 
posed, without any adequate basis, to be pos- 
sessed by the nerve cells, at least by the nerve 
cells of the vertebrates, since it seems that in 
them alone hypnosis can be induced by various 
means. According to this theory, any obstruc- 



WHAT IS HYPNOSIS? 137 

tion, or interruption of the nerve current, due 
to a shrinking of the protoplasmic processes 
of the nerve cells, causes certain disturbances of 
consciousness, such as drowsiness, natural sleep, 
or hypnosis. The weak point in this rather 
fanciful theory has been the inability to demon- 
strate any such shrinking of the nerve processes 
or at least it has been demonstrated only in some 
of the very lowest organisms, in which it has 
not been possible to experimentally produce 
hypnotic phenomena and in which natural sleep 
seems likewise absent. 

Disturbances of circulation have also been 
utilized to explain hypnosis, in the same manner 
as it was attempted to explain sleep. Since it 
is well known that anaemia or a lack of blood 
in the brain may cause a state of drowsiness, 
this anaemia of the brain has also been utilized 
to explain the hypnotic state. The weak point 
in all these theories, it appears, is the a priori 
assumption that hypnosis is either sleep or a 
special modification of sleep. We shall later 
attempt to show that hypnosis can only be ade- 
quately explained when we demonstrate analo- 
gous phenomena in a non-hypnotic state, and that 
these phenomena are not found in normal sleep 
or at least to a less extent than they are found 
in some phases of sleep or in normal absent- 
mindedness. Investigation of the blood vessels 



138 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

of the retina has shown no diminution in the 
size of the vessels during hypnosis. Besides, 
hypnosis can be induced after the inhalation 
of nitrite of amyl, a drug which causes dilata- 
tion of the blood vessels and, therefore, hy- 
peremia and not anaemia of the brain. Preyer 
postulates a chemical theory for hypnosis, claim- 
ing that the fixed attention which seems to be 
necessary for the inducing of the hypnotic state 
causes a rapid accumulation of waste products 
in the brain and this accumulation brings about 
a partial loss of activity of the cerebral cortex. 
It seems to us that the crux of the whole 
question is the attempt to identify hypnosis 
either with sleep or as a special modification of 
sleep. It is true that to a limited extent hyp- 
nosis outwardly resembles normal sleep. The 
hypnotic state can be brought about by the 
same influence and conditions as produce sleep, 
such as withdrawal of all strong stimuli, restful 
position, monotonous gentle stimulation of one 
or more of the special sense organs, expecta- 
tion, habit, banishment of certain thoughts, and 
the concentrating of attention on some unexcit- 
ing object or sense impression. In hypnosis 
and likewise in sleep the subject is inert and 
passive. Catalepsy may occur in normal sleep 
as w r ell as in the hypnotic state; in both these 
states the subject frequently desires to move 



WHAT IS HYPNOSIS? 139 

his limbs, but is incapable of doing so. !As was 
previously pointed out, however, this inability 
to move the limbs occurs only in the semi- 
drowsy hypnagogic state, and never in deep 
sleep, for in the latter condition there is com- 
plete relaxation of all muscles. This peculiar 
condition, which I called nocturnal paralysis, 
sometimes occurs also as a temporary phenom- 
enon, when a subject is suddenly awakened 
from deep hypnosis. Suggestibility, however, 
and the presence of reactions to suggestion is 
absent in deep sleep but is present even in the 
deepest hypnosis. Unconscious reflexes without 
mental action, such as the withdrawal of a limb 
when it is tickled or pinched, occur in sleep, but 
never in hypnosis. Suggestions given in sleep 
are never carried out when the subject is 
awakened. The motor disturbances of certain 
organic nervous diseases, such as the twitching 
of chorea, or the tremor of paralysis agitans, 
tend to cease in sleep but not in the deepest 
hypnosis. Furthermore, the light hypnotic states 
even outwardly do not resemble sleep; it is 
only in deep hypnosis that there is any such 
outward resemblance. In hypnosis the subject 
is in touch or in rapport with the operator, and 
consequently there results an automatic obedi- 
ence or the carrying out of post-hypnotic sug- 
gestions, a thing which is impossible in sleep. 



140 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

Hypnosis is a mental state brought on through 
suggestion; sleep is a habit, a reaction of de- 
fence on the part of the organism against 
fatigue. The simple command of " wake " will 
bring a subject out of the deepest hypnosis, be- 
cause this command acts as a negative sugges- 
tion. Ordinary noise will not awaken a deeply 
hypnotized subject. In sleep, however, any in- 
different command or noise, if made sufficiently 
loud, will awaken the subject. The result bears 
no relation to the type of command, but must 
be a stimulus sufficiently intense to disturb the 
course of sleep, and is regulated only by the 
depth of the condition. All intercourse with 
the outside world is cut off during sleep with 
the exception that dreams, even of a very com- 
plex nature, may arise from peripheral stimuli. 
But even in the deepest hypnosis the subject 
maintains his relations to the world about him; 
the subject can be made to walk, talk, or go 
through all sorts of complex acts; suggestions 
may be given which will act automatically even 
after the hypnotic state has been terminated. 
The loss of voluntary movement in normal sleep 
is not subject to the will or suggestions of an 
outside experimenter. In deep sleep it is a 
question how much consciousness is active, for, 
as we have previously pointed out, it seems very 
likely that dreams are absent in deep sleep and 



WHAT IS HYPNOSIS? 141 

take place only as the subject is on the road to 
awakening. In hypnosis, however, conscious- 
ness is exceedingly active, intelligent conversa- 
tion may be carried on, and even hallucinations 
or illusions of the special senses may be brought 
about through suggestion. On termination of 
the hypnotic state known as awakening (a 
term probably derived from the fancied resem- 
blance of hypnosis to sleep) there may be no 
memory for this particular localized period of 
active consciousness. That the memories are 
conserved, however, but merely dissociated, is 
shown by the fact that they may be reproduced 
or restored by other special devices, such as ex- 
perimental distraction, crystal gazing, automatic 
writing, or in a subsequent state of hypnosis. 

Experiences related in hypnosis for which the 
subject has no memory on awakening, may also 
cause certain physiological and psycho-physical 
reactions, such as changes in the pulse rate or in 
the electrical resistance of the body. Changes 
in the personality, temporary at least, have been 
found to take place in hypnosis, either spon- 
taneously or through suggestion. It is true that 
some complex dreams of sleep may also involve 
transitory changes in the personality of the 
dreamer, but here the assumed personality is 
extremely vague, and it is very unlikely that 
the same change will occur in a subsequent 



142 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

dream, whereas the hypnotic personality tends 
to reproduce itself spontaneously in all later 
hypnotic states. 

We see, therefore, that there is very little if 
any resemblance between normal sleep, or at 
least between the deeper grades of sleep, and 
hypnosis. There is, however, a portion of sleep 
which in many ways bears a striking resem- 
blance to the artificial hypnotic states. As we 
fall asleep there is always an intermediate state 
which hovers between sleep and awakening. It 
is called the hypnagogic state. This hypnagogic 
state occurs as a transitory phenomenon in all 
individuals, but it becomes markedly protracted 
in those subjects of insomnia who complain of 
an absolute loss of sleep. This hypnagogic state 
takes place at both ends of sleep, when the sub- 
ject is falling asleep and when sleep has been 
either artificially or spontaneously terminated. 
Consciousness in this state is either a little hazy 
or is completely retained. For instance, one of 
my subjects who was afflicted with nocturnal 
paralysis, was able to judge the length of time 
in which she was unable to move by gazing at 
a watch which hung over the foot of the bed. 
We have already pointed out how this condition 
of nocturnal paralysis may be observed in sub- 
jects who are gradually or suddenly awakened 
from a deep hypnosis as well as from natural 



WHAT IS HYPNOSIS? 143 

sleep. Now the transition from waking to 
sleep or from sleep to waking is never sudden, 
but may be of varying duration, from a few 
seconds up to fifteen minutes. In both the 
spontaneous hypnagogic state and in artificial 
hypnosis there is increased suggestibility, a 
tendency to transitory paralysis, catalepsy of 
the limbs may appear, and even hallucinations 
may arise. In fact the post-hypnotic palsy 
which is sometimes observed is in every way 
identical with these conditions of transitory noc- 
turnal paralysis. The phenomena in both cases 
appear after the hypnosis has been terminated 
by suggestion or after the subject awakens from 
sleep and is in a semi-drowsy hypnagogic state. 
But the most striking presence of phenomena 
analogous to hypnosis is found in normal absent- 
mindedness. Now these absent-minded states 
have awakened a great deal of interest because 
they occur in everyday life and, therefore, can 
be easily studied, and because they seem to be 
the normal analogues to many pathological proc- 
esses. But whether these absent-minded acts 
are mere accidental chance dissociations, or 
whether they are due to unconscious memories 
or the transformation of dormant complexes 
into co-conscious activity, or dormant physio- 
logical experiences which have become disso- 
ciated, is still a much discussed question. For 



144 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

each theory a certain amount of experimental 
evidence can be urged in support. Indeed, 
Freud claims that no absent-minded acts are 
due to chance or accident, but are directed by 
the automatic influence of unconscious or sub- 
conscious memories, usually of a painful char- 
acter and which may be revealed by some form 
of psycho-analytic technic. In a certain measure 
this is true; under other conditions it seems 
rather far-fetched and fanciful. 

We saw in the first chapter how absent- 
mindedness is a state of increased suggestibility; 
in fact during this state absurd suggestions will 
be accepted by the subject, an acceptance from 
which the subject would revolt under normal 
conditions. In absent-mindedness there may be 
a decrease of motor control, the subject may 
stand still as if suddenly petrified, the same as 
in the ecstasy of hypnosis. Temporary losses 
of sensation may take place in the absent- 
mindedness so that a person may be pricked 
or pinched without apparently any sense of 
pain. The subject may be oblivious to his sur- 
roundings; a thoughtless "don't know" or 
" yes " or " no " may take place in reaction to 
questions, the meaning of which is not fully ap- 
preciated. In the large majority of cases there 
is a loss of memory for absent-minded acts. The 
absent-minded acts in these cases remain not 



WHAT IS HYPNOSIS? 145 

only dormant but likewise dissociated. That 
they are conserved in the unconscious or sub- 
conscious is shown by the fact that a latter 
reproduction of the act is possible through cer- 
tain technical methods. This was well shown in 
a certain personal experience of the writer. One 
day I had occasion to refer to some notes which 
I had made in the course of preparation for a 
certain technical paper. Prolonged search 
failed to discover these notes, although I dis- 
tinctly remembered having made them on a par- 
ticular kind of blue paper. It then occurred to 
me that perhaps it would be interesting by 
means of crystal gazing to see if I could recover 
any trace of the lost notes. The result was 
peculiarly interesting and successful. I dis- 
tinctly saw myself in the crystal, sitting at my 
desk, and caught myself in the act of tearing 
up these particular notes in connection with 
some other data which I had finished using, and 
throwing the torn pieces into the waste-paper 
basket. A search in the basket discovered the 
lost and torn notes, which I was able to piece 
together. Now the tearing of these notes was 
evidently an absent-minded act; and yet an act 
which was preserved in the unconscious and 
later fully reproduced through the technical 
device of crystal gazing. 

In absent-mindedness, as well as in hypnosis, 



146 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

negative hallucinations may occur, such as in 
the frequent experiences of certain persons who 
cannot find objects which are immediately in 
front of their eyes. Now all absent-minded 
acts are temporary; absent-mindedness is a 
special condition of consciousness, for we do 
not habitually go about in an absent-minded 
state. All absent-minded acts seem to be spon- 
taneously dissociated experiences. This is 
shown by the fact of increased suggestibility, of 
the possibility of the recovery of the memory of 
absent-minded phenomena, and of a lack of 
attention which the subject pays to painful 
stimuli. In fact this disregard for painful 
stimuli is a kind of a functional anaesthesia. 

Dr. Prince also insists that absent-mindedness 
is a form of temporary dissociation. " The 
phenomena of absent-mindedness, or abstrac- 
tion, a normal function, indicate both dissocia- 
tion and automatism. It is not difficult to 
demonstrate experimentally that auditory, vis- 
ual, tactile, and other images which are not per- 
ceived by the personal consciousness, during 
this state may be perceived subconsciously. 
Thus under proper precautions I place vari- 
ous objects where they will be within periph- 
eral field of vision of a suitable subject, C. B. 
Her attention is strongly attracted listening 
to a discourse. The objects are not perceived. 



WHAT IS HYPNOSIS? 147 

She is now hypnotized and in hypnosis de- 
scribed accurately the objects, thus showing 
that they were seen subconsciously and produc- 
ing subconscious states. Dissociation is plainly 
a function of the mind and brain." * 

It seems, therefore, that although hypnosis is 
not identical with sleep, yet it presents many 
points of similarity to a certain phase of sleep, 
namely, the hypnagogic stage. It bears the 
closest resemblance, however, to absent-minded- 
ness. But like absent-mindedness is the special 
condition, except that the former is a spon- 
taneous phenomenon, while the latter must be 
artificially produced through suggestion. Most 
hypnotic states are merely conditions of more 
or less intense abstraction, in which the subject 
can either open his eyes with ease or with some 
difficulty, and in which memory is clearly re- 
tained. The deeper hypnotic states, with cata- 
lepsy, automatism, and amnesia, usually occur 
only in hysterics or in highly suggestible indi- 
viduals. Absent-mindedness is a temporary dis- 
sociation and terminates suddenly whether we 
will or no, while hypnosis can be indefinitely 
protracted by the operator, until a suggestion is 
given to awaken. Hypnosis, therefore, seems 

1 Morton Prince: "Do Subconscious States Habitually Exist 
Normally or are They Always Either Artificial or Abnormal 
Phenomena." — The Psychological Review, March-May, 1905. 



148 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

to be a special mental state, an artificial dissocia- 
tion of consciousness strongly resembling, and 
in some cases absolutely identical with, normal 
absent-mindedness, but more intense and pro- 
tracted, induced by suggestion and readily 
terminated by suggestion. 

All normal individuals are subject to tempo- 
rary absent-minded states. This absent-minded 
state is really a mental dissociation and in it 
there is a temporary increased suggestibility. 
This suggestibility ceases, however, as soon as 
the condition has terminated. If some device 
could be arranged whereby this absent-minded 
state could be produced at will and terminated 
at will, we would then have an ideal soil on 
which ideas planted through suggestion could 
grow. Fortunately we have such artificial de- 
vices in the states of hypnosis, and in the condi- 
tions of experimental distraction. In both these 
artificial conditions the memory is broadened, 
the mind is more or less completely dissociated, 
and suggestions are uncritically accepted. But 
unfortunately we cannot keep a subject in one 
of these artificial conditions for an indefinite 
length of time. Here the most important prin- 
ciple of all comes to our aid. Briefly it is this. 
Suggestions given to a subject during either 
of these artificial states tend to remain in the 
subconscious, and to act themselves out inde- 



WHAT IS HYPNOSIS? 149 

pendently after the artificial state has been 
terminated. It makes no difference whether the 
subject remembers the suggestion or whether 
he does not remember it, the effect is the same. 

These two artificial devices have a wide range 
of therapeutic value. They can be used to cor- 
rect or to cure abnormal sexual perversions, 
chronic alcoholism, obsessions, recurrent states 
of fear, abnormal shyness, and conditions of 
abnormal self-consciousness. Hysterical symp- 
toms may be made to disappear, fixed ideas 
which interfere with the welfare of the physical 
organism may be overcome, and experiences 
which the subject cannot recall in his normal 
condition may be restored. 

Hypnotic suggestion has secured some of its 
best results in chronic alcoholism. Here the 
negative suggestion of drink, combined with the 
positive suggestion of increased will power to 
resist the temptation, has often such a far- 
reaching effect that it might almost be said to 
reconstruct the personality. In the treatment 
of recurrent states of fear not only does the 
emotion of fear with its anxiety completely pass 
away, but the physical symptoms such as trem- 
bling, palpitation, and dryness of the mouth 
likewise disappear. When lost memories are 
restored through treatment by the psychological 
devices, the restored memories remain perma- 



150 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

nent. Sometimes insomnia may be due to a 
fixed idea on the part of the subject that he 
cannot sleep. This fixed idea may have had 
its origin in a sleepless night in the past, due 
to some indifferent experience. But after this 
experience the subject expects that he will again 
have a sleepless night, and little by little this 
fixed idea produces an actual insomnia. Now 
the obvious treatment of this condition would 
be to change this fixed idea through some form 
of psychotherapy. Sleep-producing drugs would 
be useless, as the subject would sleep only dur- 
ing the period of drug administration. 



CHAPTER VIII 

ANALYSIS OF THE MENTAL LIFE 

The exploration of the subconscious in ab- 
normal mental states has furnished data which 
are of great value for both diagnosis and treat- 
ment. This exploration, on the one hand, can 
bring to light the mechanism by which a patho- 
logical mental state has been produced, and on 
the other, furnish hints for psychotherapeutic 
procedures. It has been shown that certain 
abnormal mental states usually arise from an 
emotional shock. This may be either the slow 
accumulation of emotional experiences, or a 
rapid mental change after an emotional injury. 
The abnormal mental experience once started 
tends to recur or to reproduce itself automati- 
cally, particularly in states of fatigue or through 
association of ideas. An idea related to the 
original experience will often set going all the 
mental and physical phenomena which had oc- 
curred at the time of the original experience. 
This forms what is known as an association 
neurosis. In many of these functional cases, 
the mental injury, or so-called psychic trauma, 
is either consciously suppressed by the subject 

151 



152 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

or the subject may be unable to recall volunta- 
rily the original experience in memory. In the 
first case, we speak of the experience as sup- 
pressed or dormant; in the second, we say that 
the experience is subconscious or dissociated. 
Now these suppressed or subconscious experi- 
ences may do considerable harm, and bring 
about a severe pathological mental condition. 
Such experiences may cause hysteria, double or 
multiple personality, or they may give rise to 
peculiar convulsive attacks of a purely func- 
tional nature, stimulating epilepsy (psycho- 
epileptic attacks). Therefore, it frequently 
becomes necessary that we have an account of 
the experience which we believed responsible for 
the observed pathological phenomena. Yet in 
many cases the subject is either unwilling to 
make a full confession and so suppresses the 
incidents, or he may be utterly unable to recall 
them because they are subconscious or disso- 
ciated. We then must have recourse to some 
technical procedure. These methods of tapping 
or exploring the subconscious mental life are 
known as psycho-analysis. These technical pro- 
cedures are hypnosis, the states of abstraction, 
either voluntary or induced, crystal gazing, 
automatic writing, the word reaction (associa- 
tion) tests, the electrical phenomena (psycho- 
galvanic reaction) , the changes in the pulse rate 



ANALYSIS OF THE MENTAL LIFE 153 

(psycho-cardiac reflex), and finally the analysis 
of the dream life. When one or several of these 
methods is successfully applied, we can often 
arrive at some definite result, such as a com- 
plete confession on the part of the subject, the 
synthesis of certain split portions of conscious- 
ness, the working out of certain suppressed 
feelings, and finally an insight into emotional 
experiences. When these experiences, whether 
dissociated or dormant, are brought into full 
consciousness, they lose their baneful influence 
because they cease to have any further inde- 
pendent activity. This is a long step toward 
the cure of the patient. If the experiences are 
dissociated and the cleavage between the con- 
scious mental life and the subconscious experi- 
ence can be permanently bridged (synthetized), 
here again the dissociated experience can be 
freed from any abnormal activity. In dormant 
experiences, a full confession, a talking out of 
all the details, also acts as a therapeutic meas- 
ure, by relieving the subject of his secret. 

These psycho-analytic methods require for 
their successful practice not only a technical 
knowledge of abnormal psychology, but presup- 
pose a certain amount of personal skill on the 
part of the operator. They require time, pa- 
tience and experience, and an ability to correctly 
interpret the conditions found. No fragment 



154 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

of memorjr, emotion, or symptom can be ig- 
nored; we must follow the mental life of the 
subject through all the ramifications of the 
psycho-pathological maze. If the abnormal 
experiences have left sufficient traces on the 
nervous system, it ought to be possible to recover 
them through the various technical devices. 

In order for any line of treatment to be suc- 
cessful, it is necessary that we have a clear 
understanding of the mental processes which 
underlie the diseased condition and of the pa- 
tient's physical state. Unless we have these 
data at hand, no form of suggestion can be 
successful. Suggestion is unable to dogmati- 
cally assert that such or such symptom can dis- 
appear, neither can it blindly replace the nor- 
mal for the abnormal. 

The emotion aroused by a painful experience 
is accompanied by some bodily symptoms which 
are expressive of the mental aspect of the emo- 
tions. This emotion may then fade from the 
patient's consciousness, either because the pa- 
tient voluntarily suppresses it or because it is 
incompatible, painful, out of harmony with his 
character. In some conditions, the subject re- 
mains utterly unable to recall the original ex- 
perience, although the phenomena which accom- 
panied the experience may persist and take on 
an automatic activity. Thus the physical ex- 



ANALYSIS OF THE MENTAL LIFE 155 

pression of the emotional experience, whether a 
state of fear, a convulsion, or a disturbance of 
sensibility, continues to live in the conscious- 
ness of the patient. Now the mischief that has 
been caused by these experiences may be an- 
nulled if the emotions are allowed to work them- 
selves out through a full confession. The cast- 
ing out of these demons from consciousness is 
accomplished by what is known as the carthartic 
method. This carthartic method is nothing 
more or less than a full confession. Nothing 
is withheld, all the gaps in memory, all the 
painful emotions and associations, all the dis- 
agreeable feelings, the patient is urged to bring 
vividly before his mind and tell them. What- 
ever method is used in this procedure, whether 
hypnosis or abstraction, is merely a matter of 
technic, whose object is to extract, as it were, 
the mental thorn which is causing the mischief. 
The original emotional experience is thus side- 
tracked and for it there is substituted a healthier 
mental attitude. In other cases, if the experi- 
ence is dissociated and not merely dormant, a 
procedure must be used to enable the subject 
to recall the experience in consciousness. This 
is called a synthesis of the dissociated mental 
state. 

Freud, however, formerly claimed that the 
necessary condition for the use of his cathartic 



156 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

method was the hypnotizability of the patient, 
although in his later work he gave up hypnosis 
as a therapeutic procedure and used simple ab- 
straction. The method is based upon the 
broadening of consciousness that takes place 
during the hypnotic or the abstracted state. 
From the standpoint of treatment, the method 
aimed to remove the symptoms of the disease 
by making the patient return to the mental 
state or experience in which the symptoms mani- 
fested themselves for the first time. According 
to this theory, the patient must have been in a 
peculiar semi- waking (hypnoidal) state at the 
time of the original emotional experience, and 
it was this abnormal mental state which pre- 
vented a complete synthesis of the experience 
with consciousness. In the hypnotic state or 
in abstraction, memories, thoughts, and ideas 
emerge and, after these mental processes with 
their attached emotions have been communicated 
to the physician, the symptoms could be over- 
come and their recurrence prevented. Thus, 
when the psychic process that was causing the 
trouble reached consciousness, it became " con- 
verted." In other words, the hitherto pent-up 
emotions, which had become attached to certain 
experiences, were liberated. 

In any psycho-analytic method, it can be noted 
that the patient naturally tends to repress what 



ANALYSIS OF THE MENTAL LIFE 157 

is painful. Hence gaps in the memory arise, and 
it can be found that these gaps relate to ex- 
periences having a strong emotional meaning. By 
persistence, however, these gaps can be filled, and 
when once the emotional experience is " talked 
out," liberated, a sense of relief is experienced. 
No psycho-analytic method is as simple as it 
appears, because many of these abnormal men- 
tal conditions are caused, not by one, but by an 
entire series of emotional experiences. Until 
all of these are brought to consciousness, the 
analysis is not complete, neither is the cure 
permanently established. So we see that these 
psycho-analytic methods not only give us an 
insight into the abnormal mental life, but have 
a decided therapeutic value. These methods of 
psycho-analysis have their parallel in everyday 
life in perfectly normal individuals. We all 
feel better when we tell a secret to a friend. A 
sense of relief is experienced when one is de- 
pressed and gloomy and has the " cry out." 
Even suppressed laughter is painful if one is 
in a situation where laughter would be indiscreet 
or inadvisable. In spite of the stress laid by 
the various investigators upon hypnosis, abstrac- 
tion, or automatic writing, these methods are 
mere technical devices. Any method which will 
enable one to reach suppressed experiences or 
to synthetize a detached state of consciousness, 



158 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

would be equally effective. Through the asso- 
ciation tests, and by means of the psycho- 
galvanic and pulse reactions, we can often trace 
the memory of an emotional experience. 

It is to Professor Sigmund Freud of Vienna 
that we are indebted for the psycho-analytic 
methods in certain functional neuroses, particu- 
larly in hysteria. Professor Freud recently 
visited this country and gave an account of his 
theories at Clark University. Dr. Putnam has 
furnished us with an excellent description of the 
evolution of these psycho-analytic methods in 
Freud's mind. 1 He says: 

"In brief, the history of Freud's investigations and 
opinions is the following: In 1881, an older colleague, 
Dr. J. Breuer, of Vienna, had occasion to treat an in- 
telligent young woman suffering from hysteria in a 
serious form for which he tried the usual means in 
vain. At length, after a long and tireless searching, 
he found that the facts offered by the patient in ex- 
planation of her illness, although they were freely fur- 
nished and represented her entire history so far as she 
consciously could furnish it, constituted only a tithe 
of the story which, in the end, her memory succeeded 
in drawing from its depths. Under the influence of a 
special method of inquiry, many hidden facts, repre- 
senting painful experiences long ago forgotten, came 
one by one to light and were as if lived over, attended 

1 J. J. Putnam: "Sigmund Freud and His Work." — Journal 
Abnormal Psychology, Vol. IV, No. 5-6. 



ANALYSIS OF THE MENTAL LIFE 159 

by the emotions that originally formed a part of them. 
And just in proportion as this happened, in propor- 
tion as the dense barriers were overcome that separated 
this hidden portion of the patient's past from that of 
which she had remained consciously aware, one and 
another of her distressing symptoms dropped away and 
disappeared forever. The details of the long and 
significant history of this case cannot be given here. 
Let it suffice to say that although no further investi- 
gations based on it were undertaken for ten years, yet 
the facts observed had made a deep impression upon 
Dr. Freud and were meditated on by him during this 
decade, a part of which he passed as a student of Char- 
cot's in Paris, and that on his return he begged Breuer 
to take the matter up again. After this, for a con- 
siderable length of time, they worked together; later 
Freud alone. It became gradually more and more 
clear to them that the childhood of this patient had 
been in an unsuspected degree and sense the parent of 
her later years. For not only had it been found that 
many of the events which counted for so much in the 
production of her illness dated back to days of early 
youth, but the later experiences which had come upon 
her, one after another, and which were the ostensible 
and apparently sufficient causes for her illness, were 
discovered to owe a large portion of their power for 
harm to the fact that they reproduced in a new shape 
old emotions of childish form and substance, of which, 
before her treatment, she would truthfully have pro- 
fessed herself to be entirely unaware. Only when these 
emotions were reached and the experiences correspond- 
ing to them lived over, in memory and in speech, was 



160 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

the recovery complete. ... It became clear to 
Breuer and Freud, further, and in harmony with the 
principle just expressed, that this patient's painful 
memories of the past, which at first had seemed as dead 
to her as if the experiences which they stood for never 
had occurred, represented in reality living and acting 
forces. And not only this, but that the very barriers 
which had to be overcome in reproducing them rep- 
resented living and active forces too, all vibrating with 
significance for the present moment and for the details 
of the illness. In other words, the term ' barrier ' 
as used for the * forgetting ' of the hysterical patient, 
was shown to be a misnomer. Indeed, the forgetting 
of persons in normal health is largely repression, an 
active process of lending oneself to the task of learning 
how not to dwell upon a subject now painful but which 
perhaps had once a powerful interest. It has often 
been remarked that the conscious memory picks out the 
pleasant items of life and rejects the rest. We remem- 
ber the charms and novelty of an ocean trip, of foreign 
travel, and conveniently ' forget ' — in reality turn 
away from — the seasickness, the dirty inns, the sleep- 
less nights. It was the significance of this species of 
forgetting and its relation to sickness and to health 
that Freud was led to study, and to which he has devoted 
all the powers of a keen and well-trained mind for 
twenty years. In the course of these investigations 
Freud and Jung and their followers have dived more 
deeply than any one before into the mysteries of the 
unconscious life. These investigations were inspired, 
primarily, not by theory but by the recitals of patients 
who had been helped to search out their memories and 



ANALYSIS OF THE MENTAL LIFE 161 

their motives to a degree that never before had been 
made possible. New evidence has thus been brought 
to show that this hidden life, if technically ' uncon- 
scious,' is anything but inactive. On the contrary, it 
is the living supplement of our conscious and willed 
existences, the dwelling-place and working-place of 
emotions which we could not utilize in the construction 
of the personality that we had shaped and rounded and 
that we longed to think of as standing completely for 
' ourselves.' " 

A brief report of a simple case will make the 
subject of psycho-analysis clearer. This case 
was analyzed by means of the abstraction 
method and the association tests. A woman 
complained to me of headache, fatigue, depres- 
sion, inability to make up her mind to do things, 
and numbness, stiffness, and a decided weak- 
ness of the left hand. This latter she first 
noticed while attempting to put on a pair of 
gloves. An examination disclosed some phys- 
ical signs of hysteria, such as diminished sensi- 
bility and muscular weakness of the left hand, 
and a limitation of the field vision. When 
the patient was placed in a quiet, relaxed posi- 
tion, and encouraged to tell everything concern- 
ing her illness, the following story was obtained : 
Her sister-in-law had died suddenly, some two 
months previously. At the funeral, the patient 
was much depressed and considerably overcome 



162 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

by emotion. On taking off her gloves that 
night, on her return from the funeral, she found 
that the left hand was numb and weak. Both 
the numbness and the weakness covered the 
exact area of the glove. The association tests 
showed a distinct lengthening of the reaction 
time when test words relating to the emotional 
experience were used (such words as funeral, 
sister, flowers). 

For fulness of record and psychological in- 
sight, Dr. Prince's case of Miss Beauchamp is 
an example of what may be accomplished 
through psycho-analysis. The record of this 
case also emphasizes the fact that the psycho- 
analysis is neither a mere euphuism nor a 
synonym for a kind of psychological " third 
degree." It means mental analysis gained 
through the utilization of all sorts of psychologi- 
cal devices, long patient observation, the care- 
ful sifting of material and the unprejudiced 
interpretation of all the data gained. 1 The 
secret of Miss Beauchamp's several personalities 
lay unrevealed until it was discovered that the 
Miss B. who applied for treatment was not the 
original self. After long observation the prob- 
lem was solved through the sudden appearance 

1 For an interesting example of the application of the psycho- 
analytic method to the study of literary creations, see a paper by 
Ernest Jones: "The GEdipus-Complex as an Explanation of Ham- 
let's Mystery." — American Journal of Psychology, January, 1910. 



ANALYSIS OF THE MENTAL LIFE 163 

of a strange individual who went back to an 
emotional experience six years earlier. It was 
this experience which led to the complex mental 
dissociation that formed the various personali- 
ties. The neurasthenic Miss Beauchamp who 
sought medical advice was but one of this group 
of personalities. After the details of the ex- 
periences are given the narrative goes on to say, 
" Then she began, according to Sally's account, 
gradually to change in character. She became 
nervous, excitable, and neurasthenic. All her 
peculiarities became exaggerated. She became 
unstable and developed Aboulia. 1 She grew, 
too, abnormally religious. There was no seri- 
ous objection then to regarding B. I. 2 as a quasi- 
disintegrated somnambulistic person, in spite of 
the continuity of her memory." 

In one case of nocturnal paralysis, it was 
possible, through psycho-analytic methods, to 
trace the pathological condition back to an emo- 
tional shock which had occurred several years 
previously. 

The Psycho- Analysis of a Case of Hysteria 

We are now prepared to give the detailed 
analysis of a complex case of hysteria, with the 
aid of some of the technical devices already 

1 Weakness of will power. 

18 One of the personalities, in fact the personality who applied 
for treatment on account of her neurasthenic symptoms. 



164 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

enumerated. In the interpretation of this case, 
the problem will be approached from the stand- 
point of the theory which states that hysteria 
represents a state of mental dissociation. This 
theory has given us a clearer understanding of 
the psychical mechanism underlying the various 
hysterical manifestations than any other theory 
with which we are acquainted. 

Miss F. for a number of years had suffered 
at various intervals from peculiar attacks con- 
sisting of headache, palpitation of the heart, and 
twitching of both arms, particularly the left 
arm. Each attack was of several months' dura- 
tion. In the intervals between the attacks she 
was perfectly well. Sometimes the twitching 
was so severe that the patient was compelled 
to go to bed for a week at a time, and on one 
of these occasions, she was in a stuporous con- 
dition for two days. The attacks are said to 
have followed an emotional experience when the 
patient was eight years of age, a fright at seeing 
her cousin disguised in white to resemble a 
ghost. While the patient had heard of this ex- 
perience in general, she has never been able 
to recall it in detail. Sometimes in the attacks 
she feels peculiarly, as if she were not herself; 
on other occasions there is no sensation of the 
left side of the body, so that she is able to strike 
and bite her left arm without pain. 



ANALYSIS OF THE MENTAL LIFE 165 

A physical examination showed some of the 
physical signs of stigmata of hysteria, such as 
loss of sensation on the left side of the body, 
weakness of the left arm, and a limitation of 
both fields of vision to between 35° and 40V 
In this case, however, as in most hysterical con- 
ditions, the mental state was the most important 
phenomenon as presenting a type of disintegra- 
tion of the personality. An analysis of this 
mental state showed many interesting phenom- 
ena, such as extreme suggestibility, instability 
of character, abnormal emotionalism, amnesia, 
illusions of memory, and the presence of sub- 
conscious mental states, in which episodically the 
almost complete disintegration of personality 
became very marked. Furthermore it was pos- 
sible to show that these protean symptoms fol- 
lowed an emotional experience, which became 
subconscious and assumed an independent 
activity. 

Analysis through Hypnosis 

Miss F. was very easily hypnotized, with 
amnesia (loss of memory) on awakening from 
the hypnotic state. In this artificial condition, 
she was able to recall vividly all the details of 
the emotional experience, but on being awak- 

a The field of vision in normal individuals varies between 90° 
and a minimum of 60°. 



166 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

ened, she again became amnesic for this experi- 
ence. While hypnotized and asked to relate 
the ghost experience, she gives the account as 
follows in laconic sentences and in a very dra- 
matic manner. " Seem to see it all now. The 
door opens. He is coming out of the room. I 
see the white over him. He makes a noise. He 
comes near me. It is dark. All I can see is 
the white, and I scream. He tells me it is he 
and not to cry. I was taken to the bed. I 
don't remember from that until the doctor 
came." In the same hypnotic state she also 
gave some further details of her experience, in 
which she struggled, bit, and was finally ren- 
dered unconscious through the use of chloroform. 
The emotional shock occurred when the patient 
was only eight years of age, and we hope to 
show that the dissociating effect of this emotion 
was directly responsible for the mental and 
physical aspects of her hysterical condition. 
While relating these experiences in hypnosis, 
the emotional reaction was quite dramatic. She 
sighed, shivered, grated and gnashed the teeth, 
the whole body trembled, the left arm twitched, 
and the facial muscles became distorted into an 
aspect of agony and fear. Occasionally she 
would scream " Ghost," " white," " that smell." 
In other words while hypnotized, the patient 
lived over again the harrowing experiences of 



ANALYSIS OF THE MENTAL LIFE 167 

years previous. On being awakened from hyp- 
nosis even in the midst of the state of fear, all 
abnormal symptoms would cease at once (ex- 
cept the twitching of the left arm). The pa- 
tient had no recollection of either the peculiar 
phenomena during hypnosis or of her narra- 
tion of the experiences. The loss of sensation 
on one half of the body persisted even during 
the hypnotic state. 

On several occasions, while she was hypno- 
tized, the dissociation became more marked. 
When she was carried back to a period ante- 
dating these experiences she did not know where 
she was, had never heard of the ghost episodes, 
and denied all knowledge of contemporaneous 
current events. In fact she was living over her 
early school days again, and once gave a vivid 
account of a fire at school during these early 
days of childhood. While in this latter state 
of her early childhood personality, it was noted 
that the loss of sensation had disappeared and 
all abnormal emotional reaction had ceased. If 
while in this state she was again carried forward 
to the time of the experience, the sensory dis- 
turbances not only returned, but the same attack 
of emotional reaction would take place. Here 
we seem to be dealing with the birth of a 
new but temporary personality. Through this 
method of analysis of the mental condition in 



168 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

the hypnotic state, it was furthermore demon- 
strated that the twitching of the arms first oc- 
curred at the time of the emotional shock. The 
fact that this twitching was absent when the 
hypnotized subject was carried back to a period 
antedating these experiences, and appeared im- 
mediately when she was carried forward to the 
experiences again, is a proof of the hysterical 
mechanism in this particular condition. The 
abnormal hysterical phenomena were therefore 
caused by a certain emotional experience, which 
was responsible for the dissociation. 

Analysis by the Association Method 

This case was also analyzed by the associa- 
tion method, with the following results: 

In order for retardation to take place in the 
association tests, the emotional experiences which 
cause the mental retardation or slowness must 
be present in the memory of the subject, al- 
though it may be suppressed or dormant. How- 
ever, after a cure, retardation does not take 
place, even though the experiences are present 
in memory, because the emotion aroused by the 
test word then finds a normal path of discharge. 
The application of these tests to the case of 
Miss F. gave interesting results and showed the 
effect of the emotional experiences upon the 
workings of her mind. In the waking condition, 



ANALYSIS OF THE MENTAL LIFE 169 

painful test words caused no retardation, be- 
cause the patient could not recall her experi- 
ences. When these same words were used while 
the patient was in an hypnotic state, where the 
memory of the experiences could be recalled, the 
retardation became very marked. The test 
words were chosen from the emotional experi- 
ences and the reaction to all the words showed 
a marked slowness of reaction. These tests 
demonstrated that the experiences acted as a 
strong emotional factor in the hysterical dissocia- 
tion, otherwise a slowness of reaction could not 
have taken place. 

Association Tests Before Recovery: — In the waking state, in 
which there was no memory of her experiences. 1 







Reaction 






Reaction 


Test 


Reaction 


Time 


Test 


Reaction 


Time 


Word 


Word 


(in seconds) 


Word 


Word 


(in seconds) 


White 


Rose 


0.8 


Hand 


Body 


2.8 


Food 


Eat 


1.4 


Smell 


Scent 


3.2 


Bite 


Feeling 


0.8 









It will be noted in the above series, that the 
reaction time is very short, although the words 
used refer directly to the experiences which 
caused the hysterical state. In hypnosis, asso- 

1 Only the words referring to the experiences are given. Some 
of the words were taken from details of the emotional experience, 
which it was not thought necessary to relate here. The reaction 
time in this particular case for indifferent words such as " hungry," 
"street," "book," varied from eight-tenths of a second to three 
seconds. 



170 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

ciation tests were again tried, with identical 
words. If the reader will compare this list with 
the one previously given, he will notice that it 
took the patient much longer to give the asso- 
ciated word and furthermore, the reaction word 
itself, instead of being an indifferent one, related 
closely to the experiences. 

In the Hypnotic State in Which the Experiences Could Be 

Recalled 





Reaction 




Reaction 


Test 


Reaction Time 


Test 


Reaction Time 


Word 


Word (in seconds) 


Word 


Word (in seconds) 


White 


Ghost 6.4 


Hand 


Thing I saw 4. 


Food 


Eat 12.4 


Smell 


Handkerchief 6.4 


Bite 


What I did 6.8 







After the patient was cured through a syn- 
thesis of the dissociated states, the retardation 
time disappeared, both in the waking state and 
in hypnosis. At this place it might be well to 
point out, that after the cure the patient was 
able to recall all details of her experiences while 
in the normal waking condition, whereas previ- 
ously this could only be done when the patient 
was hypnotized. 

Association Tests in Both the Waking and Hypnotic State After 







Reci 
Reaction 


■yvery 


Reaction 


Test 


Reaction 


Time 


Test 


Reaction Time 


Word 


Word 


(in seconds) 


Word 


Word (in seconds) 


White 


Pink 


2.2 


Hand 


Body 1.6 


Food 


Eat 


1. 


Smell 


Handkerchief 4. 


Bite 


Feeling 


1.8 







ANALYSIS OF THE MENTAL LIFE 171 

Analysis by the Pulse Reaction Tests 

When the patient was placed in a state of 
abstraction 1 (not hypnotized), by listening to 
a monotonous sound stimulus and asked to think 
of words connected with the experiences for 
which she had no memory, the pulse rate would 
become more rapid, the increase varying from 
four to twelve beats a minute. Indifferent test 
words caused no change in the pulse rate. [See 
Fig. VI.] After a cure through synthesis, this 




AyvV. 



98 A 

Fig. VI. — A portion of the pulse curve in the case of hysteria 
analyzed in the text. Note how sudden rises took place in the 
curve when test words relating to the subject's emotional ex- 
periences were used. These same test words also caused a 
lengthening of the reaction time in the association experiments. 
No. 1 refers to test word white; No. 2, to test word food; 
No. 3, to test word smell; No. 4, to test word bite. 

The numbers above the curve indicate the pulse beats per 
minute. 

increase of the pulse rate failed to take place 
when the same test words were used. [See Fig. 
VII.] It was observed that the same test words 
which caused an increase in the pulse rate 

1 In abstraction, the patient could not recall any of her ex- 
periences, but could in hypnosis. Therefore, in a state of abstrac- 
tion, these experiences still remained dissociated. 



172 EXPLORATION OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

also caused a mental slowness in the association 
tests. In a case of multiple personality reported 
by Prince and Peterson x it was likewise demon- 



Fig. VII. — A portion of the pulse curve in the same subject given 
in Fig. VI., after recovery. Note how the same test words now 
fail to cause any increase of the pulse rate. The numbers 
below the curve refer to the same test words as in Fig. VI. The 
numbers above the curve indicate the pulse beats per minute. 

strated that electrical reactions took place when 
test words connected with subconscious emo- 
tional experiences were used. These experiences 
could not be voluntarily reproduced in con- 
sciousness as memory, but appeared in dreams 
or could be reproduced in the hypnotic state. 
It would seem, therefore, that subconscious men- 
tal processes can cause electrical reactions and 
pulse variations in the same manner as conscious 
processes. 

How the Hysteria Was Cured 

Since it seemed evident from an analysis of 
this case, that the hysterical condition was due 
to certain dissociated emotional experiences, it 
ought to be possible to cure a case of this kind 

1 " Experiments in Psycho-Galvanic Reactions from Co- 
Conscious (Subconscious) Ideas in a case of Multiple Personality." 
— Journal Abnormal Psychology, June-July, 1908, Vol. Ill, No. 2. 



ANALYSIS OF THE MENTAL LIFE 173 

by synthetizing or uniting these dissociated ex- 
periences with the normal waking consciousness. 
In other words, the hysterical mischief would 
stop if the split mind were made whole again, 
thus depriving the split-off experiences from 
any further independent activity. In hypnosis 
it was suggested to the patient that on awaken^ 
ing a complete memory of the dissociated ex- 
periences would persist. This was finally suc- 
cessfully accomplished, the treatment through 
synthesis covering a period of several weeks. 
The patient then remembered all the details of 
the two experiences, and in addition, the loss of 
sensation disappeared, the visual field became 
normal, and no further attacks of twitching took 
place. Furthermore, as previously indicated, 
the time for association of words having an emo- 
tional meaning became normal and no further 
increase of the pulse rate took place when these 
same test words were used. Any further nar- 
ration of the emotional experiences, either in the 
waking state or in hypnosis, was unaccompanied 
by the emotional reaction previously described. 



PART II 

THE DISEASES OF THE 
SUBCONSCIOUS 



CHAPTER I 

LOSSES OF MEMORY 

The subject of memory is a complex one. 
Only its most essential points can be discussed, 
in order to make clear the chief subject-matter 
of this chapter — namely, the diseases of memory. 
With memory, as with sleep, the biological in- 
terpretation has been the most fruitful of re- 
sults. What, then, is memory? 

Memory, like irritability and reproduction, is 
one of the phenomena of living matter. Mem- 
ory may be defined as the characteristics or 
traces retained by the nervous substance from 
previous reactions or stimuli. Of the exact 
nature of this trace we are in the dark: we 
only know that something is retained and this 
something is reproduced. The reproduction of 
stimuli is usually in the order in which the 
stimuli are stored up, one stimulus leading up 
to or calling forth the next one, in a serial repro- 
duction psychologically known as association or 
associative memory. Memory, therefore, can be 
reduced to two simple biological phenomena — 
conservation or storing up of impressions or 
experiences and their later reproduction. Recog- 

177 



178 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

nition and localization in the past are supposed 
to be a part of the act of memory, but these are 
merely the conscious accompaniment of the 
biological reaction. They are unnecessary for 
memory, for, as will be shown later in the course 
of this chapter, memory can exist without either 
localization or recognition. Destroy conserva- 
tion and reproduction and memory ceases to 
exist; preserve these and destroy localization 
and recognition, memory is still there as a bio- 
logical phenomenon, but without the psychologi- 
cal element. 

Let us take a few simple examples of storing 
up and reproduction of physical stimuli and 
apply these to the phenomena of memory. If 
one talks into the plain waxen cylinder of a 
phonograph, then places the cylinder back to its 
starting point and again sets the instrument 
going, the words are produced in the exact order 
in which the cylinder stored them up. This is 
conservation and reproduction from a physical 
standpoint, based upon the laws of sound vibra- 
tion produced by the human voice. Take a 
more complex example. Look steadily at a 
bright light for a few seconds, then close the 
eyes, and for a brief interval we perceive the 
sensation of light, after the stimulus which pro- 
duced it has ceased to act. In this case, the 
retina of the eye, by virtue of the peculiar con- 



LOSSES OF MEMORY 179 

struction of its nerve elements, has stored up 
those other vibrations which produce light. The 
sensation, however, has outlasted for some little 
time the stimulus which occasioned it, and we 
have what is known in physiology as the retinal 
after-image. This teaches us that one tendency 
of the nerve tissue is to repeat physiologically 
its previous reactions or stimuli. Probably the 
same action but far more complex, takes place 
within the brain in the mechanism of memory. 
Hering has given us a vivid description of the 
biological aspect of memory. 1 " It is well 
known that sensuous perceptions, if constantly 
repeated for a time, are impressed into what we 
call the memory of the senses, in such a way 
that often after hours, and even after we have 
been busy with a hundred other things, they sud- 
denly return into consciousness in the full, sensu- 
ous vivacity of their original perception. We 
thus experience how whole groups of sensations, 
properly regulated in their spatial and temporal 
connections, are so vividly reproduced as to be 
like reality itself. This clearly shows that after 
the extinction of conscious sensations, some ma- 
terial vestiges still remain in our nervous sys- 
tem, implying a change of its molecular and 
atomic structure, by which the nervous sub- 

1 E. Hering: " Memory and the Specific Energies of the Nervous 
System." 



180 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

stance is enabled to reproduce such physical 
processes as are connected with the correspond- 
ing psychical processes of sensations and per- 
ceptions." 

For the act of memory two essentials are nec- 
essary: first — a nervous system in such a stage 
of development that a brain is present, and 
secondly, the absolute integrity of such a nerv- 
ous system or brain. Without the first, memory 
is impossible; if the brain be, totally or par- 
tially destroyed, either through disease or for 
the purpose of physiological experiment, there 
is either a total or partial loss of memory. For 
instance, in the destruction of a certain portion 
of the brain of man through disease, we may 
have a partial loss of memory for words, known 
as aphasia. On the other hand, a brainless ani- 
mal is absolutely without the slightest vestige 
of memory. Take two frogs, one of which has 
been blinded and the other without brain. Place 
both in positions of danger, the blinded frog 
attempts to escape, the brainless frog remains 
quiet, although the danger has reached the point 
of death, because the brainless frog possesses 
no memory of its previous positions of danger. 
Furthermore, it cannot learn anything new, be- 
cause memory is necessary for the act of learn- 
ing. In Goltz's famous experiment of the dog, 
from which he removed the brain, the animal 



LOSSES OF MEMORY 181 

showed no spontaneous movements, neither did 
it recognize its master. In certain states of 
dementia where the brain is profoundly diseased 
there is always a marked disorder of memory. 
In some experiments on cats and monkeys, it 
was shown that, when the frontal lobes of the 
brain were destroyed, recently formed habits 
and associations were lost. 

It has been shown that normal memory con- 
sists of several elements, some physiological and 
some psychological. Essential are conservation 
and reproduction; non-essential, yet entering 
into the act of memory and completing it, are 
recognition and localization in the past. Con- 
servation and reproduction are the physiological 
elements, and for these physiological elements 
or sensations to leave their traces in the nervous 
system it is necessary that they endure a cer- 
tain length of time. These sensations as a rule 
outlast for some little time the objective stimu- 
lus which occasioned them. This is the explana- 
tion of retinal after images to which we previ- 
ously referred and it is also this physiological 
mechanism which forms the basis of habits. 
Habits are memories, but unconscious memories, 
because unaccompanied by thought. 

The non-essential elements in memory are 
recognition and localization in the past. All 
localization of past experiences undergoes what 



182 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

we may call "foreshortening," due to the omission 
of large numbers of events by which the present 
is bridged with the past. Without these omis- 
sions, recollection would be a tedious act; for 
instance, before we could recall the events of a 
holiday a year ago it would be necessary to fill 
up in consciousness all the details of the inter- 
vening gap. We do not do this, however. We 
simply jump the gap. 

In abnormal memory, one or several of its 
elements may be disturbed, producing some 
form of what is known as amnesia. Amnesia 
is an inability to reproduce memories for cer- 
tain events. This inability of reproduction may 
be due to actual destruction or to mere dissocia- 
tion. If the former, the memory cannot be 
restored through special psychological devices. 
If the latter, restoration in most cases is pos- 
sible. For instance, in certain organic brain 
diseases, after epileptic or hysterical attacks or 
convulsions, sometimes following severe blows 
to the head, or after emotional shocks, the mem- 
ory for a certain period may be either destroyed 
or dissociated. In an epileptic who came under 
personal observation, a series of convulsive 
seizures was followed by an amnesia of five 
years. In another epileptic, a very slight dizzy 
attack was followed by a loss of memory for 
eighteen days. The memory for this period 



LOSSES OF MEMORY 183 

was never spontaneously recovered, thus prov- 
ing an absolute destruction and not a mere 
dissociation. 

While in an intoxicated condition a man re- 
ceived a blow on the head while resisting arrest. 
Following the injury he was unconscious for 
eight or ten hours, and on regaining conscious- 
ness found that he was unable to recall any 
events of the week previous. The memories of 
the amnesic period have never spontaneously 
returned, although a period of several years has 
elapsed. His only knowledge of the events of 
that week comes through information gathered 
from friends. None of the memories returned 
in dreams. 

The destruction or dissociation of memory in 
amnesia usually comprises those impressions 
which are least highly organized. According to 
well-recognized laws of association it is just 
such elements which immediately precede the 
physical or psychical injury which are destroyed 
in amnesia, making a condition known as retro- 
grade amnesia. These particular groups of 
memories are involved because they are loosely 
organized. Sometimes conservation primarily is 
disturbed; the impressions vanish as soon as re- 
ceived, making what is known as continuous 
amnesia, a condition which is very marked in 
senile dementia and in certain cases of alcoholic 



184 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

brain disease. It may be, however, that this 
form of amnesia is only an apparent one — the 
residuals may persist in the nervous system, 
but cannot be consciously reproduced. In 
Janet's case of Mme. D., 1 for example, the con- 
tinuous amnesia followed a severe emotional 
shock. The patient forgot the experiences of 
her everyday life as fast as they occurred. Dur- 
ing sleep, however, she called out the names of 
the physicians who attended her during the day, 
thus proving that her dreams had their origin 
in her waking experiences, which must have been 
stored up and left their traces. 

In other cases of amnesia the power of repro- 
duction alone is at fault. The experiences or 
impressions are stored up, but voluntary repro- 
duction is impossible, a dissociation has taken 
place, although the experiences may be repro- 
duced or synthetized through special devices. 
Most cases of amnesia are of this latter type. 

That localization in the past is not a necessary 
concomitant of the act of memory is shown by 
several cases of extensive amnesia, particularly 
in the case of Miss Beauchamp and in the case 
of Susan N. In these cases, isolated memories 
would suddenly flash into consciousness without 
any concomitant time association or the recog- 

1 Pierre Janet: "L'Amnesie Continue." — Nevroses et Idtes Fixes, 
Vol. I. 



LOSSES OF MEMORY 185 

nition of the memories as portions of the per- 
sonal experience. They were mere scrappy and 
fragmentary automatisms, not synthetized with 
the personal consciousness and, therefore, looked 
upon by the subject as strange, unfamiliar, and 
isolated ideas. 

If both recognition and localization are dis- 
turbed, there results a distortion or an illusion 
of memory, known as paramnesia. The inter- 
esting subject of paramnesia will be briefly dis- 
cussed in the course of another chapter. If 
memory for particular concepts is at fault, for 
instance the memories of the sounds of words or 
for the names of things, we have what is known 
as aphasia. 

Amnesias are systematized when they com- 
prise all the memories of a period, localized 
when they take in memories of a certain epoch 
of life, and general when the subject has no 
recollection of any of his previous life. Cases 
have been observed that confirm all these types. 

It will be impossible to give an extended 
account of the various cases of amnesia that have 
been studied and published. The reader who 
is interested in the subject may consult the 
bibliographies appended to my papers in the 
Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 1 

1 Isador H. Coriat: "The Experimental Synthesis of the Dis- 
sociated Memories in Alcoholic Amnesia." — Journal Abnormal 



186 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

The Lowell Case of Amnesia throws light on 
many obscure problems of amnesia. Susan N., 
an intelligent middle-aged school-teacher, left 
home on a certain day in March, 1906. Until 
she was later recognized by her relatives in 
August of the same year, her family had abso- 
lutely no explanation of her disappearance. 
During this time, however, a number of rather 
startling dramatic episodes occurred, for which 
she later had no recollection. She wandered 
from place to place, adopted various fictitious 
names, such as " Mrs. Sarah Wilson," " Mrs. 
Alice Walker," " Margaret Kelly," and on sev- 
eral occasions came into collision with the police 
under rather sensational conditions. Finally an 
attempt at suicide by drowning in the Merrimac 
River, and her rescue in a semi-comatose condi- 
tion, led to her being placed in a hospital. On 
her person were found several memoranda, in 
which she gave a fragmentary account of her 
wanderings under the various names she had 
assumed. 

After her rescue from the river, she remained 
in a stupor for a week, and on awakening from 
this state it was found that the memory of the 
events of her whole previous life, from the date 

Psychology, August, 1906; "The Lowell Case of Amnesia." — 
Journal Abnormal Psychology, August-September, 1907; "The 
Mechanism of Amnesia." — Journal Abnormal Psychology, 1909. 



LOSSES OF MEMORY 187 

of her birth, was completely obliterated. A 
similar condition of stupor, followed by an ex- 
tensive loss of memory, has been reported in 
other cases. For instance, in the Mary Rey- 
nolds case, there was a profound sleep from 
which the patient awoke " to all intents and 
purposes as being ushered for the first time into 
the world." Likewise in the case of Susan N., 
the educational memories, the names of objects, 
persons, scenes, knowledge of events were gone. 
She retained, however, the knowledge of read- 
ing, writing, sewing, and automatic movements. 
The extensive amnesia seemed, therefore, to 
have affected chiefly the higher psychic mem- 
ories and spared the lower and more automatic 
acquisitions. After awakening from the stupor 
she learned things anew with an astonishing 
rapidity, thus showing that the mechanism of 
associative memory was not actually destroyed, 
but merely dissociated. This rapidity of ac- 
quiring knowledge made it very difficult to 
distinguish between what the patient actually 
remembered and what she had learned since 
awakening from the stupor. Everything she 
read or saw appeared to her as if perceived for 
the first time. For instance, she said, " When 
I first saw trees and houses, I never remembered 
having seen them before." It was necessary to 
teach her the names and uses of ordinary ob- 



188 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

jects. Literature with which she was formerly 
perfectly familiar it was necessary for her to 
relearn. She recognized no one, not even her 
relatives. She gave her name as Margaret 
Kelly, and when addressed as Susan N., paid 
no attention. 

Attempts to restore the memory led to inter- 
esting data, proving that the entire life experi- 
ence was simply dissociated from her conscious 
perception and not irrevocably destroyed. 
Scrappy, isolated memories would suddenly 
flash into her mind, consisting of verses of 
poetry, strange names, visual memories of per- 
sons, places, etc. These were not recognized 
as memories and were not localized in the past, 
but were called " strange thoughts," " wonder- 
ments " by the patient. These peculiar phenom- 
ena proved that recognition and localization are 
unnecessary for memory. Her dreams consisted 
of episodes of her life from which at present 
she was totally amnesic. A detailed account of 
this dream life as a dissociated state has already 
been given in the chapter on Dreams. Patients 
\- afflicted with amnesia will frequently dream of 
the experiences which they cannot spontaneously 
recall in their waking condition. 

A few details will make some of these 
phenomena clear. When the attention of the 
patient was distracted by a monotonous sensory 



LOSSES OF MEMORY 189 

stimulus, isolated flashes of memory resulted. 
These I called experimental distraction mem- 
ories, and they consisted principally of quota- 
tions from popular poets, such as Longfellow 
and Whittier. As all knowledge of literature 
was absent in her present state the quotations 
must have been of the nature of dissociated 
memories, that is, of experiences stored up, in- 
capable of conscious reproduction, although syn- 
thesis was possible through the devices used. 
Sometimes, without being experimentally in- 
duced, for instance, in normal abstraction or 
during reading or conversation, the same 
phenomena would take place, such as the repro- 
duction of isolated names or " vivid memories " 
of towns and cities. These were called spon- 
taneous distraction memories. When the sub- 
conscious was tapped by automatic writing 
names and quotations were again produced, 
but these also were strange and unfamiliar to 
the patient. 

Fortunately I was present at the visit of an 
old and intimate friend of the patient. This 
furnished an excellent opportunity for the study 
of her reaction to former acquaintances. She 
was unable to recognize this friend, even when 
her name was mentioned and when she was 
brought face to face with her. She reiterated 
" I don't remember," in answer to questions 



190 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

relative to prominent incidents of her childhood 
and early life. She asked the name of some 
nasturtiums brought by her visitor, and did 
not recall having seen similar flowers before. 
When the name " bobbins " was used in the 
course of the conversation, she naively inquired, 
"What are bobbins?" although she had once 
worked in a mill. 

An analysis of the case showed that we were 
dealing with a functional amnesia, in which the 
higher psychic memories, such as the knowledge 
of objects, places, events, and literature were 
compeltely dissociated, while the lower and more 
organic acquisitions, such as reading, writing, 
speech, co-ordinated movements, were retained. 
In this respect the case is unique of its kind 
from the standpoint of general amnesia. The 
experimental evidence, in this case of Susan N., 
proved that we were dealing with mere isolated, 
disconnected fragments of a wide system of 
experience and knowledge which, in her present 
condition, were entirely dissociated from the 
conscious mental life, i.e.,, incapable of voluntary 
reproduction. 

If certain memories are dissociated, it is often 
possible to restore them through some artificial 
method. The restoration of lost memories in 
amnesia and the sudden recollection of a forgot- 
ten name have the same mechanism in common. 



LOSSES OF MEMORY 191 

For instance I attempt to recall a name, but try 
as hard as I will, I cannot recollect it. I give 
up the conscious attempt and later, while en- 
gaged in conversation or reading, the name 
flashes into my mind. What has happened? 
The name was there all the time, otherwise I 
could not have recalled it later. This is one of 
the simplest examples of dissociation of con- 
sciousness, or more strictly speaking, in this 
case a dissociation of memory. When the at- 
tention was distracted by conversation or read- 
ing, concentrated upon one point, the name 
flashed into my mind. The conscious inhibition 
of the name had been removed while I was in 
this state of abstraction and the subconscious 
memory of the name flashed into conscious- 
ness. In psychological terms it has become 
synthetized, whereas previously it was disso- 
ciated. This is the mechanism of the restora- 
tion of lost experiences in amnesia reduced 
to its simplest terms. It has been shown that 
this synthesis is possible only where there is 
a dissociation, not where the experiences are 
destroyed. In absent-minded acts where there 
is often a dissociation of memory for the act, 
the memory may also be restored. These disso- 
ciations of memory, which clinically are some 
type of amnesia, occur in hysteria, acute alcohol- 
ism, sometimes after blows to the head, and 



192 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

occasionally in those episodes of wandering for 
which there is no later conscious recollection, 
known as fugues. The practical results of the 
synthesis of these particular amnesic states is 
one of the triumphs of the theoretical part of 
abnormal psychology, particularly of modern 
investigations into subconscious or dissociated 
mental experiences. The results are best ac- 
complished by having the patient listen to a 
monotonous sound stimulus in a quiet, semi- 
darkened room and while he is in a condition of 
perfect relaxation. After one or several trials 
it will be found that isolated experiences flash 
suddenly into consciousness, and by continued 
stimulation these groups become finally fused 
into their chronological order. My first ex- 
periments along these lines were performed 
upon alcoholics who had suffered from amnesic 
states as the result of long-continued alcoholic 
indulgence. In the cases which I observed it 
was possible to restore in its entirety the com- 
plete amnesic period. Further researches along 
these lines proved the soundness of the applica- 
tion of this theory and it was also shown that 
what was true of alcoholic amnesia was true 
of other types of amnesia. As a result of these 
studies, I found that it was possible to divide 
the amnesias into three distinct groups: 
1. Amnesic states in which the dissociation 



LOSSES OF MEMORY 193 

was of such a nature that a complete experi- 
mental synthesis of the lost experiences was 
possible. This group comprises short hysterical, 
epileptic, and alcoholic amnesias, protracted 
fugues (wandering states), and certain types 
of amnesia following cerebral embolism. 

2. Retrograde amnesia, following blows to 
the head, in which the whole or a portion of 
the amnesic period spontaneously cleared up. 

3. Amnesic states in which the memories were 
so completely destroyed or dissociated that 
neither spontaneous restoration occurred nor 
experimental synthesis was possible. In this 
group may be placed protracted epileptic am- 
nesias and the retrograde amnesias of cerebral 
concussion not comprised under group 2. 

The amnesia after deep hypnosis, like the 
losses of memory in the states of dissociation, 
is not a real amnesia at all, but only apparent. 
The events of the hypnotic state may be re- 
stored by various psychological devices, such as 
crystal gazing and automatic writing; or, the 
patient will recall the events of the hypnosis in 
subsequent hypnotic states. Hysterical losses of 
sensation and paralysis are really localized am- 
nesias, a " forgetting " of the sensation or move- 
ments of a certain limb. 

We learn from these observations, that a loss 
of memory is not synonymous with unconscious- 



194 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

ness. A person may perform many natural but 
complicated acts extending over hours, days, or 
weeks and yet have later no memory for these 
facts. The period is a blank in the mind. Dur- 
ing this period, the subject is not in an uncon- 
scious state, but rather in a subconscious state. 
For instance, cases have been reported where a 
subject has left home and no trace could be 
found of him. Later, he suddenly comes to 
himself, in a strange location and engaged in a 
strange occupation. All memory of the period 
since leaving home has vanished. During the 
period, to all outward appearances, he was in a 
normal condition. Yet the memory is not really 
destroyed, but it may be restored by appropriate 
methods. Examples of a loss of memory ex- 
tending over several days, in one case with the 
apparent birth of a new personality, will be 
discussed in the next chapter. In both in- 
stances, it was possible to permanently restore 
these lost memories through a special device. 



CHAPTER II 

THE RESTORATION OF LOST MEMORIES 

This chapter will be devoted to the study 
of two cases of amnesia in which the lost mem- 
ories were successfully restored. The first case 
comprised the events of a delirium, while in the 
second case there was a change of personality, 
during the amnesic period. In the first instance 
it was possible to restore practically every epi- 
sode of the lost period, although the amnesia 
had existed for two years before the experiments 
were attempted. During all this time, the pa- 
tient, try as she would, could not recall a vestige 
of this lost period of four days. In the restored 
period, there was also obtained a most valuable 
account of the patient's mental state during this 
four days' delirium. At first only a few isolated 
fragments were obtained, then larger and larger 
groups without reference to their chronological 
order became firmly synthetized, until finally 
the gaps became filled and there resulted a firm 
and permanent restoration of the four days' 
period. Where before there was a gap in the 

195 



196 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

patient's life, this gap became filled through 
these restored memories. 1 

Mrs. X. left B. by train, on a journey to 
the city of N. After travelling about an hour 
she experienced a sensation of a sudden snap in 
the head, after which it seemed to her as if the 
train began to sway from side to side and the 
passengers began to change to people with whom 
she had been previously acquainted. After this 
she remembered nothing more for a period of 
nearly five hours. Her next recollection was a 
very hazy memory of finding herself sitting on a 
trunk in the railroad station (the end of her 
destination), then another hazy memory of a 
ride in an ambulance, and finally an entire blank 
of four days,, when she found herself in the ward 
of a hospital. Up to the time that the patient 
came under observation, a period of nearly two 
years, she had never been able to recall the 
events of those amnesic periods. An attempt 
was therefore made to restore these lost mem- 
ories, on the supposition that the entire experi- 
ence was merely dissociated and not destroyed. 
The attempt was eminently successful, as the 
following data will show. The memory was not 

1 The fragments are given verbatim as they were synthetized, 
so that the reader may have a clear idea of the mechanism of 
the synthesis. The numbers refer to each individual fragment, 
as it entered consciousness, in the order in which they were 
restored, without regard to chronological sequence. 



RESTORATION OF LOST MEMORIES 197 

only restored but with it also came an account 
of the mental state during the delirium. 
The result of the experiments follows: 

1. "I remember a picture across the wall from my 
room in B., a picture of an animal, a horrible, uncouth 
animal like a rhinoceros, with bones or stones in front 
of it." 

2. " A music box that they played in this room — 
between my room and the door of the main hall." 

3. " The queer things the train did. I thought it 
was the Asylum and before they took me out, the train 
crashed down a precipice, or seemed to, just like a 
train wreck. I saw the name on the station." 

After this the memory of her own state of mind which 
while in the train spontaneously returned, " The 
state of mind was unlike anything I had before this 
delusion, I was always I. My personality, my identity, 
did not change." 

4. " The first seat in the car. At first I had one 
in the back and it seemed later that I had a seat on the 
right hand side of the car looking out of the window. 
I don't remember changing my seat. The people were 
talking near me and it seemed that what they said in 
some terrible way had reference to me. I didn't hear 
it, but I thought it. I thought I mustn't speak — I 
knew it. I hadn't lost my identity, I could always 
have told my name. Yet I didn't know where I was 
going or why I was in that car." 

5. It was on that side that I thought I saw people 
I knew, and in particular a friend who had died. That 



198 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

was one of the things that made me sure I was insane, 
because I remembered that he had died. 

6. " Now I remember the conductor. He came, but 
I couldn't give him my ticket. I couldn't use my hands 
at all. / couldn't think how to. He took the ticket 
out of my lap and went away. I had a horrible fear, 
but I thought to myself I would keep still and I think 
I did. I don't believe I made any outcry or disturb- 
ance on that car. I had a dress-suit case with me, 
two magazines, a handbag, and a box of candy. As 
I grew worse, I dropped all care of these things. I sat 
there while the train whirled on. Part of the time it was 
dark, but it was very early — I think it was before 
5 o'clock." 

7. " All the memories seem to be of sitting on the 
right hand side of the car with just that horrible fear 
— fear of everything — that some terrible thing had 
happened to my daughter." 

8. " I came to myself on the train and gave my 
husband's name and address. I felt that I had com- 
mitted some horrible crime and the name and address 
proved it. I felt as if it was some one else I was talk- 
ing about. My memories are quite clear about lying 
on a trunk. I was violent, screamed, struggled, not 
to be held. There was police officers around. I 
thought they were there because of the terrible thing 
I had done. — I thought that I had killed my daughter. 
I felt something clutch my dress and I turned around 
and thought I saw a large stuffed cat. I screamed 
and was afraid and a woman tried to soothe me and 
tried to give me some medicine." 

9. " I can see now the people getting off the car, but 



RESTORATION OF LOST MEMORIES 199 

I didn't move at all. I think some one came and told 
me to get off. All this time I thought someone was 
with me to take care of me — and so I did just as I was 
told. Then I walked along with my suit case and men 
came running up to me — I think they were hackmen — 
but I thought then that they were just interested in me 
and thought they kept saying * C. C — the place where 
I lived, a suburb of Y." 

10. "I didn't even think then where I was going or 
what I was going to do. I couldn't have told my name 
then." 

11. " I was at B. Hospital from Tuesday until Fri- 
day, but it seemed like one day to me. It is hard to 
distinguish old memories and new ones. I remember 
being questioned by physicians there and asked my 
name and address, which I gave correctly. Then I was 
questioned a good while about my physical condition, 
but I can't remember just what. I think I tried to 
make myself out insane and I remember being un- 
dressed by several nurses and put into a bathtub. The 
nurses all seemed to be people I knew — I called them 
by familiar names and their voices seemed to be 
familiar. I was violent and it took three or four 
nurses to get me to bed. That was in a room to the 
right as the hall is entered. The room seemed to have 
windows like a church — stained glass with rounding 
tops and in the door was a place that could be opened 
for some one to look in. I was terrified in that room 
all the time. There was a vacant bed across and a 
sound of breathing always came from it, as if some one 
were in it. It was a perfectly smooth white bed, unoc- 
cupied, and that terrified me more. I heard voices most 



200 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

of the time — voices I recognized — my father's and my 
sister's voice. Part of the time the door of my room 
was open and when the nurses passed I called them by 
familiar names, although all the time I recognized that 
they were nurses by their caps. In that room was the 
picture I spoke of — opposite the door, and the picture 
kept changing." 

12. "I can't remember being taken from that room 
to the one across the hall, but I remember being in that 
room across the hall. I remember medicine being given 
to me in that room ; I drank it out of a glass, I also 
remember drinking milk that was brought to me there. 
I thought there was some terrible thing that I had done 
and couldn't remember what it was. There was still 
another room on that same side and I remember being 
dressed and sitting out in the middle part — the hall — 
where the pictures were and an organ or music box 
against the wall. I still thought the patients were 
people whom I knew. But gradually that wore off and 
they began to look just like themselves. I remember a 
physical examination there by a doctor, a young man, 
whose hair was brown, the eyes grayish blue, and the 
whites of the eyes very yellow. He thumped my chest 
and listened to my breathing and after that he gave 
me different things to smell and taste. After I was 
dressed they took me into the anteroom and I saw 
my husband and daughter there. I looked at the clock 
— it was 9.15 A. M. Then when they took me back I 
was better, I didn't think any more of the horrible 
things I had done to my daughter, because after I had 
seen her I knew that she was all right, but I began to 
think then that other people were harming her. I 



RESTORATION OF LOST MEMORIES 201 

remember being taken out to my husband and daughter 
again and I said, after looking at the clock, ' It was 
9.15 when you were here before ' — it was then 5 o'clock. 
It wasn't the same day, although it seemed like it to 
me. It seems to me as though they took me to the M. 
Hospital after they left me the last time." 

It will be noted that the memory was restored 
in isolated fragments without any reference to 
their order of occurrence. By continued tap- 
ping or stimulation of the subconscious mental 
life, larger and larger groups of memories en- 
tered consciousness. Finally the entire gap of 
the four days' loss of memory became bridged. 
The restored memories have remained perma- 
nent and there is no longer a blank period in 
the patient's mind. In this case the patient was 
in an abnormal mental state during the four 
days and she was unable later to recall volun- 
tarily the events of this period. Hence the am- 
nesia arose, an amnesia of dissociation and not 
of destruction, otherwise the lost memories could 
not have been restored. 

In the second case, up to the time of his 
amnesia, the patient was always a healthy man 
and of strictly temperate habits. During a 
slight illness he remained in bed one day, but 
did not remember getting up or dressing. He 
had a faint recollection, however, that about 
10 a.m. he was told by his mother that she was 



202 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

going out for a while and that if he felt hungry- 
he would find some breakfast on the back of 
the kitchen stove. The patient remembered 
nothing more until he found himself in a hos- 
pital in N. three days later, and although 
he was well known in his own neighborhood, 
no one saw him leave his house on the par- 
ticular morning he disappeared. When he came 
to himself in the hospital he did not know 
where he was, but he later learned the name of 
the hospital. He did not know whether he 
came to himself suddenly, or out of a normal 
sleep, but in the course of an hour or two he 
realized Ms condition. He left B. on Thurs- 
day, was admitted to the hospital on Sunday. 
Thus there was an absolute amnesic period of 
three days. According to the hospital report 
he seemed nervous and depressed on admission, 
and gave his name, age, occupation, and address 
incorrectly. Here we have an example of the 
birth of an apparently new personality. 

I first saw the patient three weeks after 
his return home. During this time not even 
the slightest detail of the amnesic period had 
spontaneously returned. He would frequently 
lie awake at night in an attempt to recall 
these lost experiences, but without success; 
neither had there been any dreams relating to 
these. 



RESTORATION OF LOST MEMORIES 203 

Thus we see that we are dealing with a loss 
of memory and a change in personality in which 
many complicated but natural acts were per- 
formed, the whole period being dissociated from 
consciousness, thus producing a complete am- 
nesia. It was only when psychological methods 
were used, that the lost memories could be re- 
stored. An account of these restored memories 
follows as given in the patient's own words: 

" It seems as though I could realize the conductor or 
brakeman with the lantern on his arm going around 
for tickets, and then it is as though there was a depot 
and a crowd. It seemed to me as if I walked and kept 
on walking, not knowing where. 

" I got mixed up with a cabman, he was quite a short 
man compared with me. I walked a long distance be- 
fore I got a cab. Then I seemed to be riding with the 
cabman and we went over a bridge. I can't seem to 
remember getting rid of that cabman. It seems as 
though I was walking when it was coming on dark. I 
fully realized it was getting dark. I remember going 
to some place and eating. I think I ate steak and I 
think there were hot biscuits there and I had a glass of 
milk. I remembered giving the waitress a bill, and I 
remember buying a cigar there directly after I paid the 
bill. It seems as though I went out on the street and 
bought a newspaper — I don't know the name of it, and 
I put it in my pocket. I can recollect being in a theatre 
— there were different varieties, and I can recall one or 
two acts. I recollect two fellows coming out in a 



204 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

German dialect and the second one was a fellow and 
girl in a trapeze act. I can remember looking at the 
paper while I was in the theatre. I can't recall what 
I read, but there was something startling in it about 
a train wreck. I remember coming out of the theatre 
with the crowd and I went into a barber shop with a 
tobacco store connected and bought some more cigars 
and made inquiries about a room. I didn't receive any 
definite reply from them. It seems as though they 
told me to go farther down, quite a distance, and one 
of the fellows came to the door and pointed in the direc- 
tion. I can remember a woman leading me to a room. 
I could hardly understand her talk; she was an oldish 
woman. I remember going into another lunchroom 
after I left the cigar store. A crowd in an automobile 
came into the restaurant directly after me. It was in 
that restaurant that I was told where I could get a 
room. They all had a foreign accent as though they 
were Germans. The man in the restaurant pointed 
out the hotel to me. It was at the corner of the street. 
It was a kind of boarding house. I remember the old 
woman showing me the bathroom and asking me 
several questions — if I wished to be called at any cer- 
tain time, etc. She explained to me the rules of the 
house and showed me how to turn on the electric light 
in the hallway. I have just a faint recollection of 
retiring, but I remember raising the window before I 
lay down to sleep. I tossed in bed nearly all night, 
and did not fall asleep until daybreak. I can recall 
the sweeping in the next room and the woman must 
have heard me, because she came to the door and asked 
if I were up and how I felt. It struck me that she 



RESTORATION OF LOST MEMORIES 205 

must have noticed that I did not look well. I dressed 
myself, but felt weak and sick. I then called her and 
she came into the room. I asked if I appeared sick, 
and she replied ' yes,' and then I asked for nourish- 
ment, something to eat. She said that as soon as she 
was through with her work she would bring me some- 
thing. She advised me to return to bed and she would 
attend to my wants. I can remember her coming in 
with some broth in a bowl, and she also brought some 
eggs in a glass. I can remember drinking a cup of 
tea. I remember then, although I felt weak, that I 
thought the fresh air would do me more good and I 
dressed. I changed my mind and undressed again and 
finally again I made up my mind I'd go out. I re- 
member going out — I remember making a study of the 
place. I don't remember the number, but I know it 
was at the corner of two streets. I made a note of the 
name of the street on a small card, but I can't recall it 
now. There was a big tailoring establishment on the 
corner, and the house had a sort of a brownstone front. 
You had to go up a dozen or more steps to the door. 
I can recollect walking a long distance and was so 
tired that I felt inclined to eat. I remember going 
into a restaurant, but when I sat down I took only a 
light stew. I believe it was one of the courses served, 
but I felt sick and didn't eat any more. When I left 
the restaurant I felt tired, so I boarded a car and rode 
quite a long distance. I remember getting out and 
going into a barbar shop. 

" I can recall getting into a car that night after I 
left the barber shop and getting off at a theatre. I 
got into line with a number of people and waited a long 



206 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

while. I can recollect buying two tickets for a fellow 
that was ahead of me, as he didn't think they'd sell him 
all the tickets he wished. He said he had friends and 
later he and his friends sat aside of me. I went into 
the theatre and I can recall some acts. There was 
a fight with cow-boys and Indians on an extra large 
stage and later a scene in which persons would dive 
into the water and disappear. I can recall a girl get- 
ting into a boat that already had several men in it, 
and the boat sank out of sight under the water. I 
went out before the show was over and asked an officer 
in the balcony of the theatre the best way to get to 
the address I had on the card. He told me to go to 
the corner and I'd find an officer there. I didn't find 
the officer, and so walked quite a distance until finally 
I did meet one and he directed me down some streets. 
He told me I could get a car which would bring me in 
that direction^ but that I would have to transfer. I 
can remember the conductor stopping the car and giv- 
ing me a check. I only waited a minute when the car 
came along and it brought me to the door of the house. 
I started to go in but changed my mind and went into 
a restaurant. I remember having an oyster stew and 
they gave me some large crackers, such as I had never 
seen before. From there I went back to my room and 
opened the window. It was raining hard. There was 
some talk in the room next to me, it sounded like the 
voices of two or three men. I remember undressing 
and lying down, but I did not sleep. I would get up 
and take a paper and read and return to bed again. 
In that way I passed the night. In the morning I 
can remember the woman rapping at the door and giv- 



RESTORATION OF LOST MEMORIES 207 

ing me a towel. She asked me how I felt and I told 
her that I didn't feel well. She said there was a doctor 
a short distance down the street and that she would 
either send for him or I could go there myself. I 
didn't go to the doctor, but it seems to me as though 
she mentioned a hospital and I left the house with one 
of the boarders. I think he went to the hospital with 
me, although they say there that I entered alone. 
This was about midday. I felt weaker and weaker, 
started to ask some questions, but they advised me to 
keep quiet and not to worry. They placed me to bed 
in a room and darkened the room. I think I saw the 
doctor and he examined me. I slept well that night 
and the following morning he came in and asked me 
how I felt. He then said that I needed rest for a few 
days or a week, and again advised me to keep quiet and 
not to worry. They brought breakfast to me, but every 
opportunity I had I would ask some questions. I re- 
mained in that room until I came to my senses. Sleep 
brought me to my senses and it struck me that I was 
in a strange place. Then my first object was to re- 
turn home." 

Attempts to obtain the patient's personal con- 
ception of himself during this amnesic fugue 
and also the reason for giving an incorrect name 
on entering the hospital were unsuccessful. 
Some portions of the revived memories were 
dream-like, others appeared like natural recol- 
lections. 



CHAPTER III 

ILLUSIONS OF MEMORY 

The memory may play us other tricks be- 
sides mere forgetting. It may make us believe, 
in spite of ourselves, that we had previously 
lived through an experience which we are cer- 
tain occurred for the first time. In a previous 
chapter we saw that normal memory consists 
of several elements. These essential elements 
were conservation (storing up) and reproduc- 
tion; the non-essential elements were recogni- 
tion and localization in the past. Memory may 
be present without the non-essential elements, 
but without the essential elements it ceases to 
exist. In certain pathological disturbances of 
memory we particularly saw that neither recog- 
nition nor localization in the past was a neces- 
sary concomitant in the act of memory, for 
isolated memories could suddenly flash into con- 
sciousness without either localization or a recog- 
nition of the memories as a portion of a per- 
sonal experience. When either conservation or 
reproduction was at fault, however, we could 
have the various clinical types of amnesia. 

208 



ILLUSIONS OF MEMORY 209 

When localization in the past and recognition 
are at fault, present happenings are sometimes 
mistaken for previous experiences, the memory 
becomes distorted and plays us tricks. We 
refer to this trick as an illusion of memory, a 
false memory, or technically as paramnesia. 
As amnesia is due to some disturbance of stor- 
ing up or reproduction, so paramnesia is a 
fault of recognition and localization. 

We may be in doubt if we have seen a certain 
landscape or experienced a certain situation or 
sensation before, and yet all the time we may feel 
certain that the experience is new and could not 
under any circumstance have previously hap- 
pened. This sense of what is called familiarity 
may reach a point when even absolutely new 
experiences seem familiar and old. The sense 
of time may also become disturbed, so that 
new experiences may be localized in the remote 
past. The French writers have called this dis- 
turbance of memory the " deja vu " or the 
" already seen." In contrast with this feeling 
of the " already seen " there may be a sense of 
strangeness, of newness, in familiar places, a 
kind of a feeling of the " never seen." These 
illusions of memory are found not only in cer- 
tain abnormal mental states, but also in every- 
day life, and to a greater or less extent have 
caught the fancy of writers and so have per- 



210 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

vaded the literature. The late Lafcadio Hearn 
has also given us a most vivid account of the 
illusions of his memory. He says, " To the 
same psychological category possibly belongs 
likewise a peculiar feeling which troubled men's 
minds long before the time of Cicero and trou- 
bles them even more betimes in our own genera- 
tion, — the feeling of having already seen a place 
really visited for the first time. Some strange 
air of familiarity about the streets of a foreign 
town or the forms of a foreign landscape comes 
to the mind with a sort of a soft, weird shock 
and leaves one vainly ransacking memory for 
interpretations." 

The exact reason for these strange tricks of 
memory is very difficult to determine. These 
illusions of memory may recur as a transitory 
phenomenon in everyday life and are some- 
times associated with a temporary feeling of 
depersonalization. They may also be present as 
a prominent symptom in some form of alcoholic 
insanity, epilepsy, the insanity of old age (senile 
dementia), in some paranoiac states, and occa- 
sionally in hysteria. In their occurrence in both 
normal and abnormal mental states, they show 
a striking resemblance to some subconscious 
phenomena. Both may be temporary disin- 
tegrations of the personal self occurring in 
everyday life and both may become more 



ILLUSIONS OF MEMORY 211 

complex and thus become pathological mental 
phenomena. 

What, then, is the cause of these strange illu- 
sions of memory? Many theories have been 
proposed, but none seems to explain the exact 
mechanism. 1 The whole subject is a rather 
confusing one, but probably the most satis- 
factory explanation is that the illusions are 
probably due to the fact that a transitory first 
impression of a scene or situation becomes imme- 
diately and partially dissociated from .the per- 
sonal consciousness. There follows a rapid re- 
covery from this dissociated state and on again 
perceiving the object or scene, a sense of recog- 
nition and familiarity arises. This sense of 
familiarity may present all grades, from ex- 
treme vagueness to startling distinctness. Syn- 
thesis seems to be absent and it is this lack of 
synthesis which causes the illusion of the " al- 
ready seen." For instance, in looking over a 
newspaper, we may give a hasty but forgotten 
glance at an account of a current event. But 
is it really forgotten? The impression pro- 
duced may become immediately dissociated, pass 
out of consciousness, only apparently forgotten 
like the functional amnesias. But if we should 

1 For an account of the various theories of paramnesia the 
reader is referred to my paper on " Some Recent Literature on 
Paramnesia." — American Journal of Psychology, October, 1905. 



212 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

happen to return again to the same account with 
a more complete measure of attention a syn- 
thesis will be formed. In the more attentive 
re-reading of the passage it will seem as if we 
had read of the same event before, but how or 
when we cannot tell. 

These illusions of memory have been studied 
by various observers. In one case the phenome- 
non, as in all reported cases, was immediate and 
instantaneous, before the patient had time to 
examine the persons or objects in detail. Here 
the illusion followed an epileptic delirium. To 
anyone who approached the patient for the first 
time, the patient said, " I know you. I have 
already seen you here. I was here in the same 
bed and same ward. I am not able to say when 
this was, but I am certain I was here before. 
You have spoken to me the same as you do 
to-day." When taken for the first time into the 
laboratory, she claimed to have seen all the in- 
struments at this alleged previous visit. In 
another case the patient claimed to have previ- 
ously dreamed events which had occurred for 
the first time. 

In a personal study of some cases of param- 
nesia occurring in a form of alcoholic insanity, 1 
isolated events in the patient's present memory 

1 " Reduplicative Paramnesia." — Journal of Nervous and Mental 
Disease" 1904. 



ILLUSIONS OF MEMORY 213 

were impressed upon him as a repetition of previ- 
ous events. In other words, everything seemed 
doubled or reduplicated, and for this reason the 
condition was called reduplicative paramnesia. 
One of the patients had the illusion that another 
person of the same name was formerly in the 
same hospital, that he had visited him several 
times and that he bore a minute physical re- 
semblance to him, even down to the detail of 
the amputation of identical ringers of the same 
hand. He furthermore stated that the hospital 
grounds, buildings, wards, nurses, etc., were 
familiar to him because of this former visit. 
Other cases showed the same duplication of 
events with the minutest details. The phenome- 
non was interpreted as due to a doubling of 
memory images in consciousness, but as the pa- 
tients were not aware of the doubling, the illu- 
sions were looked upon as actual events. 

A stenographic report of a portion of a con- 
versation in a subject with illusions of memory,, 
will explain better than any description, this 
curious disturbance. An examination of this 
patient's physical condition, including tests for 
sensation and the reflexes, had been made a week 
previously. The patient had never been in the 
hospital before and, therefore, his minute de- 
scription of an alleged previous residence there, 
was a pure illusion. This illusion of memory 



214 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

was a condition due to disease, and not the 
result of a deliberate fabrication. 

Up to the time that the illusions of memory 
suddenly appeared during a spontaneous re- 
mark, there had been no suspicion of any dis- 
turbance of this kind. The following is an 
account of the illusion: 

" One day the subject spontaneously said, ' I was here 
in this hospital four years ago for typhoid fever' 
(incorrect). 

Q. For how long? A. About two months. 

Q. Who was your doctor? A. I don't know. 

Q. Describe him? A. A little black mustache. 

Q. In what ward were you? A. A hospital ward. 

Q. What did it look like? A. It had photographs 
and battleships on the walls, and they worked the 
biograph on me to see how much I could stand. 

Q. Did the hospital resemble this? A. Not exactly, 
there is a lot of new things here. 

Q. Is this the same hospital? A. Yes. 

Q. Was I a doctor there? A. I don't know for 
sure, but I think you were. 

Q. Did I look the same as now? A. No, you only 
had a little mustache then. 

Q. What is my name? A. I forget. 

Q. What did I do to you? A. Cured me. 

Q. Did I examine you? A. Every way, and you 
said you would make a good man of me. And you 
examined my feet and legs and arms with a hammer. 
You stuck me in those places. Then you swung my 



ILLUSIONS OF MEMORY 215 

feet, too (referring to the physical examination a week 
previously). 

Q. What ward were you in before? A. I guess this 
ward. 

Q. All the time? A. No, I was in the hospital ward 
for awhile. 

Q. Since coming here this time have you been in this 
ward all the time? A. No. 

Q. In what other ward were you? A. Hospital 
ward. 

Q. Did it resemble the hospital ward you were in 
before? A. Yes. 

Q. How many nurses there? A. Four or five 
(three). 

Q. Are you sure that you have been in this hospital 
before? A. I am sure of that; I was here two months." 

At a later examination nothing of the above 
could be elicited. The patient had a vague re- 
membrance of the physical examination, but 
he placed it at his alleged previous residence in 
the hospital. He had been in the infirmary 
("hospital") ward for some time and the 
period during which he was in bed in the in- 
firmary ward, and also the ward itself, he 
reduplicated in all his statements. In addition 
there was also a prolongation of the time sense. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE SPLITTING OF A PERSONALITY 

It has been shown by numerous investigators 
that multiple personalities present various de- 
grees of organization of the secondary person- 
alities, from the simplest to the most complex. 
For convenience they may be divided into three 
prominent groups: 

1. Secondary personalities may develop as 
hypnotic phenomena. These may be called 
abortive personalities. To this group also be- 
long some of the subconscious states of auto- 
matic writing. Compared with the more fully 
developed forms these types are the most sim- 
ple; they are really artificially dissociated 
groups of memories without the development 
of a new ego. Examples of this class are the 
state called " Mamie " in Prince's case of Mrs. 
R., Janet's cases of Madame B., Lucie, and 
Marceline R., and finally the case of Mrs. Y., 
which constitutes the present chapter. It is 
extremely doubtful if, in any of these cases, a 
new personality would have developed, if the 

216 



THE SPLITTING OF A PERSONALITY 217 

subject was not already in a state of partial 
mental dissociation. 

2. The more complex forms, such as Mile. 
Helene Smith reported by Professor Flournoy 
("From India to the Planet Mars "), and Mrs. 
" Smead," studied by Professor Hyslop. Both 
these cases showed automatic writing with sub- 
conscious fabrications, the communications giv- 
ing alleged accounts of life on the planet Mars, 
frequently in a highly imaginative and fabricat- 
ing Martian language. 

3. The most highly developed forms, with 
the development of a new ego resembling, 
outwardly at least, a normal mental life. To 
this group belongs Dr. Prince's case of Miss 
Beauchamp. (" The Dissociation of a Per- 
sonality.") 

These groups are not distinct, however, for 
there is a decided overlapping of types. Phe- 
nomena such as automatic writing, crystal 
visions, and gaps in the memory (amnesia), 
which are present in the most simple dissocia- 
tions may also be present in the most complex. 
Before passing to the study of Mrs. Y. it will 
be well for the sake of clearness to give a brief 
account of some of the cases belonging to group 
1 of secondary personalities. We will then be 
able to comprehend more clearly the interesting 
phenomena presented by Mrs. Y. as the hyp- 



218 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

notic dissociation pre-eminently accounted for 
the development of her secondary personalities. 

In Dr. Prince's case of Mrs. R., 1 there de- 
veloped a hypnotic personality who called her- 
self " Mamie." The normal self was called 
"Annie." "Mamie" knew "Annie," but 
" Annie " had no knowledge of " Mamie." 

Janet 2 reports the case of a poor peasant 
woman, Madame B., who had been repeatedly 
hypnotized for years. Finally two personalities 
developed, a normal waking one known as 
Leonie, and a hypnotic personality who called 
herself Leontine. Leonie was serious, sad, calm, 
slow, and timid, while Leontine, on the contrary, 
was restless, gay, vivacious, and noisy. In a 
deeper hypnotic state, a third personality ap- 
peared, known by the name of Leonore. Of 
the same class is Janet's Marceline R., who suf- 
fered from severe hysterical vomiting in her 
normal state, but when the patient was hypno- 
tized the vomiting ceased. 

In our case of Mrs. Y. it was possible to 
demonstrate four distinct personalities. For 
several years she had suffered from an hys- 
terical paralysis which had resisted all forms of 
treatment, and it was finally determined to try 

1 Morton Prince: "Some of the Revelations of Hypnotism." — 
Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, 1890. 

2 Pierre Janet: " L'Automatisme Psychologique." 



THE SPLITTING OF A PERSONALITY 219 

hypnotic suggestion, in the hope of effecting a 
cure. At first there was no suspicion of the 
presence of the interesting phenomena about to 
be described. Suddenly and spontaneously, 
however, during the course of treatment, a new 
personality developed in one of the hypnotic 
states and on further hypnotization three other 
distinct personalities were added to this one, 
making four in all. The unravelling of the 
three last personalities was altogether as unex- 
pected as the development of the first. These 
new personalities persisted only during the hyp- 
notic state. When the patient was awakened 
she immediately reverted to her normal condi- 
tion without memory of the hypnotic personal- 
ities. The case also showed other interesting 
phenomena of dissociation of consciousness, such 
as the presence of crystal visions, subconscious 
perception of stimuli, and the development of 
hallucinations while the patient was half asleep 
and half awake (hypnagogic state). In order 
that the reader may clearly grasp the evolution 
of these spontaneous hypnotic personalities, it is 
absolutely necessary that the main events of the 
patient's life be given in full detail. Other- 
wise, much that is clear and definite will remain 
obscure. 

The patient was born in England and came 
to America when she was fourteen years of age. 



220 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

Two years later she entered college and re- 
mained there several years. At the age of 
eighteen she married a man whose conduct to- 
wards her was brutal and neglectful. The 
patient had six children, one of whom (E.), 
her favorite daughter, died in November, 1901, 
after a protracted illness. During ten years 
of her married life (from 1889 to 1899) her 
husband was in the hotel business in the city of 
P. He deserted her shortly after the death of 
her favorite daughter. The following two years 
she was superintendent of a certain society in 
L., and later became matron of an institution, 
a position which she retained until February, 
1904. During this time she also did some liter- 
ary work. Both sources of income being insuf- 
ficient to sustain herself and her children, she 
was compelled to place them later in an asylum. 
Immediately afterwards she became ill and it 
was necessary to undergo a severe surgical opera- 
tion by Dr. J. of L. On the night of her daugh- 
ter's funeral the patient was taken suddenly ill 
and remained in bed for three weeks, experiencing 
a severe sense of exhaustion. The exhaustion 
continued, the right arm would occasionally be- 
come numb and cold and the limbs grew weaker 
and weaker. Thus we see that a series of severe 
emotional shocks extending over several years 
was followed by a group of symptoms very 



THE SPLITTING OF A PERSONALITY 221 

suggestive of neurasthenia. Instead of improv- 
ing, these symptoms gradually became worse 
and were aggravated during the next few years 
by her financial condition, overwork, and worry 
about her children. She was finally "admitted 
to a sanitarium in July, 1905. During the first 
few months in the sanitarium she suffered from 
sleeplessness, depression, weakness, severe and 
almost continual headaches, and pains in the 
limbs, in fact, nearly all the classical symptoms 
of neurasthenia or nervous exhaustion. In ad- 
dition, she had several fainting spells. Six 
months after admission there developed com- 
plete paralysis of both lower extremities and 
of the right arm, with complete loss of sensa- 
tion (anaesthesia) in all the paralyzed members. 
Nausea and vomiting were almost persistent. 
The field of vision in the right eye became much 
limited. She became irritable and cranky and 
made unreasonable demands of the nurses and 
of her physician. At times she was delirious 
and suffered from hallucinations of hearing and 
a fear of receiving personal injury at the hands 
of imaginary individuals. After remaining in 
the sanitarium for a year, she was removed to a 
private home, and from there she was taken to 
the hospital where I saw her, and where the 
following experiments and studies were made: 
The patient was a bright, intelligent woman, 



222 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

without any defect of intellect or memory. 
Both lower limbs and the right arm were para- 
lyzed and completely anaesthetic. It will be 
unnecessary to give the other details of the 
physical examination. It is sufficient to state 
that everything absolutely pointed to the fact 
that the patient was suffering from a functional 
(hysterical) paralysis. Hypnosis was used in 
an attempt to cure this paralysis. On the first 
few attempts, the patient went into a deep 
hypnotic state with total amnesia (loss of 
memory), for this state, on awakening. In 
the waking state, when the anaesthetic arm was 
touched or lightly tapped a definite number of 
times (three, four, and six), the patient's eyes 
being meanwhile tightly closed, and the patient 
was asked to state the first number that came 
into her mind, in every case this corresponded 
to the number of taps or touches made. Al- 
though the experiment was frequently repeated, 
in order to avoid error and coincidence, the reac- 
tion remained the same. 

Here we have a pertinent example of the per- 
sistence of subconscious perceptions. In other 
words, the severe anaesthesia was merely a func- 
tional one, and the patient subconsciously 
counted the number of stimuli, although con- 
sciously unable to feel them. After the patient 
had been hypnotized a number of times, the 



THE SPLITTING OF A PERSONALITY 223 

first of the hypnotic personalities suddenly and 
spontaneously developed under the following 
conditions. On a number of previous occasions 
when the patient was addressed while in the hyp- 
nosis, she always gave relevant answers, had a 
perfectly clear comprehension of her surround- 
ings, knew the date and where she was. On 
this occasion, however, while the patient was in 
the hypnotic state, a new personality had de- 
veloped, which we shall designate by A. In 
this personality the patient believed she was in 
England, shortly after her marriage. The de- 
tails follow in the form of questions and an- 
swers, the form in which the notes were taken, as 
indicating more clearly than any description, the 
peculiar mental state which had developed. 

Personality A. 

Patient in a deep hypnosis. 

Q. Where are you? A. With mother in London. 

Q. Is this London? A. Yes. 

Q. What month is this? A. December — when I 
was married. 

Q. What year? A. 1887. 

Q. How old are you? A. I was married at 
eighteen 

Q. Are you eighteen years old now? A. Yes. 

Q. Have you any children? A. I am to have a 
baby soon. 

Q. Where are you living? A. In a beautiful home. 



224 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

Q. In what city are you living? A. D. on the 

south coast — in a pretty cottage there. 

Q. What is your name? A. It is Mrs. Y., now. 

Q. How long have you been married? A. Since 
last December. 

Q. How old are you? A. Eighteen. I told the 
minister that I ran away from home and school. 

On being awakened the patient remembered 
nothing of the above conversation, gave her 
correct age and the age of her children, and 
when confronted with some of the facts elicited 
from personality A., seemed surprised at the 
physician's knowledge. 

Personality B. 
Several days later the patient was again hypno- 
tized. In this state which we call B. the patient 
believed that she was living in the city of P. 
(United States) during the years 1889 to 1899. 
There was no knowledge of subsequent events. 

Q. How old are you? A. Just married. 

Q. But how old are you? A. My father will tell 
you (irritably). 

Q. Are you in good health? A. Oh, yes. 

Q. Is your arm paralyzed? A. Of course it is not. 
You know it is not. 

Q. Then move it. A. I can move it as well as my 
other arm. (She makes a vain effort to move the 
paralyzed right arm.) 



THE SPLITTING OF A PERSONALITY 225 

Q. What city is this? A. P. (sighing). 

Q. Did you ever hear of Hospital in B.? A. 

Why, no (referring to the hospital where the patient 
is at present). 

Q. How many children have you? A. Two. 

Q. How old is the eldest? A. Three years. 

Q. What month is this? A. The twelfth of May. 

Q. How old are you? A. Twenty years. 

Q. What are you doing in the city of P.? A. In 
the Hotel. 

Q. Who is the proprietor? A. My husband, of 
course. 

Q. Were you ever a patient in any hospital? A. 
No, I was always too well to be a patient anywhere. 

Q. Did you ever hear of President McKinley? A. 
No — but I remember Garfield, who was assassinated. 

Q. Who is the ruler of England? A. Queen 
Victoria. 

Q. Ever hear of the Sanatarium? (The Sana- 

tarium where the patient was ill during the years 
1905—1906.) A. Never. 

Q. How long have you been married? A. Three or 
four years. 

At this point the patient awoke suddenly, 
with no recollection of the above conversation. 
She was hypnotized two days later and the B. 
personality again appeared. At this time she 
was irritable and cranky, refused to talk at first, 
stating that she did not talk to strangers, say- 
ing, " I don't recognize your voice." In neither 



226 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

of these personalities did the paralysis or loss 
of sensation disappear, a phenomenon which was 
observed in other cases with the development of 
hypnotic personalities. 

Personality C. 

In this personality, the patient believed she 
was in the Institution during the years 1902- 
1904. 

Q. Where are you? A. This is the Institution. 

Q. In what city? A. B. 

Q. What are you doing here? A. What am I doing 
here? (surprised) — I came from another institution 
in L. 

Q. But what are you doing here? A. I am super- 
intendent. 

Q. How long have you been here? A. Two years. 

Q. Are you in the Institution at present? A. Yes. 

Q. Who am I? (Dr. C.) A. I think you are 
Dr. J. 

Q. Were you a patient in a sanatarium? A. Never. 

Q. Did you ever hear of Hospital? (where the 

patient is at present.) A. Yes. 

Q. Have you ever been there as a patient? A. No. 

Q. What year is it? A. I don't know. 

Q. Do you know the month? A. I can't tell if it is 
summer or not. (In reality it was February.) 

Q. Are you in good health? A. Always well, but I 
am tired, I don't go to bed until morning. 



THE SPLITTING OF A PERSONALITY 227 

Q. What time is it now? A. It is night — about 
three o'clock. (Incorrect.) 

Q. What are you doing now? A. I am writing, I 
can't be bothered talking (irritably), I have no time. 
I write for a domestic column in a paper. 

Q. Are you in your room at the Institution? A. 
Yes. 

Q. Are you awake? A. Of course I'm awake (sur- 
prised). I could not write if I were asleep. 

Urged to make an attempt to write with the right 
hand, she is unable to do so. 

Q. What year is it? A. I think it is 1904. 

Q. Isn't it 1907? A. No. 

Q. How many children have you? A. Six, E. is 
dead. 

The patient was hypnotized several days later 
and on this occasion Personality C. reappeared, 
although some further details developed. She 
believed that she was in the city of L., in the 
office of Dr. J., the physician who had per- 
formed several surgical operations on the pa- 
tient. Only the more important details of this 
other phase of Personality C. will be given, in 
order to show how vividly this particular state 
was enacted and how dominant was the dissocia- 
tion. All the answers were given quickly and 
in a tone of voice which showed that the patient 
was hurried and resented any effort to detain 
her. Further, when speaking of her husband's 



228 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

conduct towards her, the attitude was one of 
hate and disgust, mingled with surprise that 
Dr. J. should be ignorant of all the facts. It 
is well to state that at this time she mistook me 
for Dr. J. 

Q. How do you feel now? A. Tired, I've been on 
a case all day. Dr. J., you know all about the case. 
Oh, Dr. J., will you give me something for that pain? 
Do you think I've taken cold? 

Q. Who am I? (Dr. C.) A. Why— Dr. J. 

Q. What city is this? A. L. 

Q. What place is this? A. Dr. J.'s office. Oh, Dr. J., 
give me something, please. I must catch that four 
o'clock train. 

Q. For where? A. B. 

Q. Where are you located in B. ? A. At the Institu- 
tion. 

Q. Are you with your husband? A. Why, Dr. J., 
you know all about it. You ask such silly questions. 
Don't you remember? 

Q. What time of day is it? A. It is ten to four. 
Didn't you say so? I don't want you to take me down 
to the train. I can walk myself. There is an awful 
blizzard going on now, everything is blocked up. I 
have to catch the four o'clock train. 

At this point the patient suddenly awoke 
with a start. There was absolutely no recol- 
lection of what had taken place during hypnosis. 
tThis personality, more than the others, was full 



THE SPLITTING OF A PERSONALITY 229 

of activity. The patient actually seemed to live 
over again certain incidents of her past life. 
Immediately after the patient awoke from this 
last hypnotic state, some experiments in crystal 
gazing were carried out, with results as detailed 
in the chapter on crystal gazing. Some of the 
experiences detailed in this hypnotic state were 
reproduced as a crystal vision. 

Personality D. 

Hypnotized several days later and Personal- 
ity D. appeared, in which the patient believed 
she was in the same Sanitarium where the hys- 
terical paralysis developed. This was during 
the years 1905-1906. 

Only a few of the most essential details will 
be given, but here again as in Personality C. the 
realism of the hypnotic state was marked and 
the patient mistook me for the physician in the 
Sanitarium. 

Q. Where are you? A. In the Sanatarium. 

Q. Do you know me? A. Yes, Dr. M. (Physician 
in the Sanitarium). 

Q. How long have you been here? A. Don't know. 

Q. Why did you come here? A. Why, doctor, I 
came here because I was tired and I haven't been sleep- 
ing. But don't let the young doctor take my history. 

Q. How long do you intend to remain here? A. 
Three weeks — then I will take my position again. 



230 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

Q. What is your position? A. Why, doctor, I told 
you. Didn't I show you all my testimonials (in a sur- 
prised tone of voice) ? 

Q. Is your arm paralyzed? A. Why, no — I have 
been sitting out on the veranda to-day. 

Therefore, as will be clearly seen from the 
data given above, the original Mrs. Y., a sufferer 
from a severe form of hysteria, when hypno- 
tized spontaneously developed four successive 
personalities or rather multiple hypnotic states. 
In none of the states was there any change of 
character, other than demanded as a reaction to 
her surroundings. 

These four personalities may be summarized 
as follows: 

Personality A. In England in 1887, when 
eighteen years of age, just after her marriage. 

Personality B. In the city of P. during the 
years 1889 to 1899. 

Personality C. In the Institution at B. dur- 
ing the years 1902-1904. 

Another phase of the same personality de- 
veloped in a later hypnotic state, viz.: — an epi- 
sode in the office of Dr. J. in L. 

Personality D. In the Sanitarium during 
the years 1905-1906, during which time the hys- 
terical paralysis developed. 

All these states may be called hypnotic per- 
sonalities, to which we have referred above. The 



THE SPLITTING OF A PERSONALITY 231 

mental organization in each personality was 
simple, there was no development of a new ego, 
and no change of character. We are dealing, 
strictly speaking, with a complex group of mem- 
ories. The four personalities are really the 
original Mrs. Y., yet each personality is Mrs. 
Y. at a particular period of her life. The indi- 
vidual hypnotic personalities had no knowledge 
of subsequent events in the life of Mrs. Y. 
Thus the A., B., C, and D. states are each 
ignorant of Mrs. Y. and her present hysterical 
paralysis. In her waking condition, however, 
the original Mrs. Y. has a knowledge of all the 
past events of her life, but does not know that 
she reverts to these events in her hypnotic 
trances and develops an incomplete hypnotic 
personality. Each of the hypnotic personalities 
had a knowledge of the patient's entire life 
previous to the date which the personality com- 
prised, but not subsequent to it. Thus we are 
dealing with a peculiar amnesia or gap in the 
memory occurring in a subject in whom mental 
dissociation easily took place. 

Janet has formulated a law, that in the de- 
velopment of secondary personalities anaesthesia, 
or loss of sensation, and amnesia, or gaps in 
memory, go together. Amnesia is invariably 
present in cases of multiple personality, particu- 
larly in the more complex types. But losses of 



232 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

sensation do not always take place when one 
personality changes to another and when one of 
these personalities is combined with an anaes- 
thesia. It certainly did not occur in Mrs. Y., 
as all the hypnotic personalities preserved the 
anaesthesia and paralysis which were present in 
the original Mrs. Y. This was probably due 
to the incomplete form of dissociation which 
took place when the patient was hypnotized. 



CHAPTE1 

HYSTERIA 

We are now prepared to take up one of the 
most interesting of functional diseases, a dis- 
ease which in whole or in part may be taken 
as a type of the pathological dissociations of 
consciousness. We refer to the disease hysteria. 
The study of this disease has thrown a flood of 
light upon the mechanism of dissociation. Hys- 
teria is one of the most complex of functional 
neuroses, and although the work of recent in- 
vestigators has helped to an understanding of it, 
yet many of its phenomena still offer some of 
the most baffling problems in psychopathology. 
Certain functional neuroses seem to be caused 
by mental dissociations. These fall into several 
groups, as follows: 

1, The neurasthenic state, which frequently 
shows phenomena which lead one to believe that 
it is a form of mental dissociation caused by 
fatigue. 

2. The more complex psychasthenic state, 
with its peculiar obsessions and fears, its epi- 

233 



234 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

sodes of unreality, and its frequent far-reaching 
effects upon the personality. 

3. The periodic changes of personality with 
losses of memory for each personality. These 
are known as double or multiple personality 
according to the number of groups which are 
formed. 

4. The systematized functional losses of mem- 
ory or amnesia. 

5. The condition known as hysteria, in which 
the dissociation comprises all the motor, physical, 
and psychical activities which make up the com- 
plex personality. 

It appears from recent investigations that the 
disease hysteria, the phenomena of multiple per- 
sonality, and the artificial hypnotic state have 
many of the same symptoms and much of the 
same mechanism in common. 

In the chapter on the analysis of the mental 
life a brief account of the disease hysteria was 
given. In the report of a case we saw some 
of the elements of which the disease was com- 
posed. We are now prepared to discuss the 
subject at length. Hysteria is of paramount 
importance, not only from the medical stand- 
point, but because many of the famous char- 
acters of history showed the disease in a well- 
defined form. Many of those who have been 
blind or paralyzed for years, or in whom tumors 



HYSTERIA 235 

appeared and then suddenly disappeared with- 
out surgical aid, were cases of hysteria. 

We often hear people say that such or such 
a person is hysterical. When this term is used 
in popular language, it means unstable, ill bal- 
anced, erratic, easily moved to laughter or to 
tears. The word " hysterical " in a popular 
sense is used as loosely as the word " nervous." 
As a matter of fact, while hysterical persons 
may be unstable or ill balanced in manner, yet 
uncontrollable laughter or crying but seldom 
accompanies true hysteria. So widely does hys- 
teria depart from the popular idea of the dis- 
ease, that the layman frequently fails to recog- 
nize it. In hysteria we are dealing with a world 
in itself. It is the most protean of all nervous 
diseases, its symptoms are multitudinous and it 
can stimulate many functional and indeed some 
organic diseases. The manifold symptoms of 
hysteria have no organic basis; such symptoms 
as paralysis, sudden losses of sensation, or sud- 
den losses of the voice, blindness, convulsions, 
contractures, peculiar mental disturbances, be- 
ing, when they occur in hysteria, purely func- 
tional in nature. Hysteria bears no relation 
to the etymological definition of the word, for 
we have hysterical men as well as women. In 
fact, some of the most marked cases of hysteria 
have occurred in strong, athletic men. 



236 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

This brings us to the various theories of the 
disease. The older idea, that it had something 
to do with the womb, has been, of course, entirely 
discarded, its only survival being Freud's theory 
of the sexual mechanism of the hysterical state, 
which will be discussed later. 

The modern work on hysteria may be said to 
have started with Charcot and his pupils, of 
whom Janet is the most prominent of the later 
representatives. Indeed the latter has given us 
a working basis for the mechanism of hysteria 
which has born the most fruitful and practical 
results. Previous to the work of Charcot and his 
pupils the French school had directed a certain 
amount of attention to hysteria, and their ideas 
on the subject paved the way for the more mod- 
ern theories. France has led the way for the 
work on this disease, probably, on account of the 
abundance of clinical material which may be 
found in the French hospitals. It would lead us 
too far to give a detailed account of all the 
French investigations on a disease which Janet 
says has a beautiful history. In 1859 Briquet 
defined hysteria as a general disease which modi- 
fies the whole organism. This definition, in a 
way, resembled a later one given by the German 
neurologist Mobius, who stated that hysteria 
was a condition in which ideas controlled the 
body and produced morbid changes in its func- 



HYSTERIA 237 

tions. Now it is to the merit of Charcot and 
the earlier French school to have given us what 
in time became later designated as the classical 
picture of the disease hysteria, although, as we 
shall see later, their description of the disease 
is open to certain changes, modifications, and 
even criticisms. Charcot had no theory to offer 
for the mechanism of hysteria, other than it 
occurred in highly suggestible subjects in whom 
ideas could control functions of the entire body. 
Heredity is the great predisposing factor in 
hysteria, the disease occurring particularly in 
the offspring of hysterical and neuropathic 
parents. While the larger number of the cases 
of hysteria are seen in adult women and men, 
the disease may also occur in children, even in 
very young children. Juvenile types of hys- 
teria have been reported in children varying 
from three to twelve years of age. Probably 
in the very early cases the child imitates the 
symptoms of some other child, or some adult, 
who is suffering from either a functional or 
an organic disease of the nervous system. I 
have seen children who have imitated the con- 
vulsions of genuine epilepsy and also of an 
organic paralysis of the legs or arms. Here the 
child seems to have become the victim of a fixed 
idea or of a deeply-rooted obsession. Hysteria 
in children may be treated as Jung and Freud 



238 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

have done, through psycho-analytic methods, 
or what is better, through what are termed the 
methods of surprise and disregard. It is best, 
however, in these cases to combine any form 
of psychotherapy with purely physical methods 
of treatment. When hysteria occurs in children 
the manifestations of the disease are usually 
limited to one or to a few symptoms, such as 
transitory paralysis of a limb, hysterical pain 
limited to a joint, losses of voice, convulsive at- 
tacks, or mutism. 

Emotions of various sorts, particularly fright 
and terror, or the suppression of painful ex- 
periences are among the chief direct provoking 
agents of hysteria. In adults, as well as in 
children, outbreaks of hysteria may arise from 
imitation. Then we have hysterical epidemics, 
as in the dancing mania of the Middle Ages. 
Fatigue may also bring on an hysterical con- 
dition, and the neurasthenic state that is pro- 
duced may be one of the principal mental signs 
of a disease which, on close analysis, is found to 
be hysterical in nature. So we see that it is not 
necessary for a subject to have all the classical 
symptoms in order to be a sufferer from hys- 
teria. A few only of either the bodily, or the 
mental symptoms, or both, may suffice for the 
diagnosis. What, then, are the so-called classi- 
cal symptoms of this disease as they have been 



HYSTERIA 239 

established by Charcot and the French school of 
investigators? We will briefly pass these in 
review, although, as we have previously stated, 
they are open to certain modifications and cor- 
rections. 

The symptoms of hysteria may be divided 
into two principal groups, physical and mental. 
The former will be first discussed, as they are 
somewhat easier of comprehension and will pave 
the way for a better understanding of the more 
complex mental state of the disease. It is the 
mental state of the hysterical, however, which 
is responsible, in a great measure, for the physi- 
cal symptoms. The most frequent physical 
symptom is hysterical paralysis. This paralysis 
may comprise a single limb or an entire side of 
the body, or it may be limited to one muscle of 
the eye, or to the vocal cords. When the eye 
muscles are involved the patient sees images 
double; when the vocal cords are involved there 
is produced a hysterical loss of voice known 
as aphonia. These paralyses usually appear 
quickly and disappear quickly, either spon- 
taneously or as a result of treatment. In 
one of my cases, that of a hysterical boy, a 
paralysis of the leg with complete loss of sen- 
sation for the affected limb could be made to 
appear, and to completely disappear, by means 
of mere waking suggestion. One of the most 



240 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

frequent forms of hysterical paralysis is that 
in which the patient is unable to walk, al- 
though the limbs may be freely used and moved 
when the patient is lying down. This is known 
as hysterical astasia-abasia. In one of our 
cases this hysterical paralysis of the legs fol- 
lowed a dream in which the patient thought that 
she was falling down a steep hill. In another 
case the condition developed in a highly emo- 
tional and suggestible woman who happened to 
be placed in a bed next to one occupied by a 
patient with complete hysterical paralysis of 
both legs. Now these hysterical paralyses only 
outwardly resemble the real organic paralyses 
of the nervous system. In cases of hysterical 
paralysis of the limbs there are no changes in 
the reflexes or in the reaction of the paralyzed 
muscles to electricity, and no matter how long 
the paralyses may persist, no wasting of the 
paralyzed muscles follows, such as would take 
place in an organic paralysis. 

Sometimes a limb is not actually paralyzed 
and yet there may be an inability to move the 
limb, due to a certain muscular contracture 
which takes place, usually at the joints. The 
fingers, the hands, the feet, or even an entire 
limb may be involved. As a rule these con- 
tractures follow the pain of a slight injury, after 
which the patient feels unable to move the limb 



HYSTERIA 241 

and finally becomes possessed with a fixed idea 
that all active or spontaneous movements are 
impossible. These hysterical spasms may also 
involve the neck muscles, thus either twisting 
the head or bending the head either from the left 
or right, producing what is known as hysterical 
wry-neck or torticollis. Occasionally the mus- 
cular spasm may involve the diaphragm and 
produce disturbances of respiration or persistent 
hiccough. An hysterical tremor has also been 
described, which may resemble chorea or very 
closely simulate a tremor of some organic disease 
of the nervous system. 

Another very prominent feature is the dis- 
turbances of sensation. It is frequently noted 
that hysterical patients may be unable to feel 
a light touch or even a pin-prick in certain parts 
of the body. That these sensory disturbances 
are not due to lesions of any particular nerve, 
but are purely functional in origin and nature, 
is shown by the fact that they do not follow 
the usual anatomical distribution of the nerve 
trunks, and that they can frequently be made 
to disappear by means of some form of sug- 
gestion. The hysterical sensory disturbances 
may involve and be sharply limited to one side 
of the body, and may even involve the mucous 
membrane of the mouth and tongue. This 
latter type forms what is known as hysterical 



£42 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

hemi-anaesthesia and it is one of the most fre- 
quent so-called physical stigmata of the dis- 
ease. Sometimes the anaesthesia may cover the 
hand or leg, like a glove or a stocking. Not 
only are these sensory disturbances not caused 
by a nerve lesion, but the lack of sensation is 
only apparent and not real. This is shown by 
the fact that the subject may have a subcon- 
scious perception of the number of times the 
limb is touched or pricked, as in our case of 
Mrs. Y. Sometimes the most amazing contra- 
dictions may arise in the testing of sensations 
of hysterical anaesthesia. For instance, one of 
Janet's patients who was anaesthetic on one side 
of the body, on being tested was requested to 
answer " Yes " when she felt the touch and 
" No " when she did not feel anything. The 
patient did so and in this curious contradiction 
we must not interpret the matter as one of 
simulation, but seek deeper for its psychological' 
basis. Sometimes, also, another curious dis- 
turbance of sensation may take place. A touch 
on one side of the body is not felt at that par- 
ticular spot, but on exactly the opposite side of 
the body. Technically this is known as allo- 
cheiria. 

In some recent investigations on the psycho- 
galvanic reflex, it has been pointed out that 
stimulation of the skin in areas in which there 



HYSTERIA 243 

is a loss of sensation (anaesthesia) results in 
only a slight electrical reaction. In hysterical 
anaesthesia, however, the electrical reaction from 
stimulation of the anaesthetic area is as strong 
as though no loss of sensation existed. Here 
we seem to have another experimental proof 
that hysterical anaesthesia is not real, but only 
apparent, and that the impressions are subcon- 
sciously perceived. 

The special senses may also be involved in 
hysteria. Disturbances in taste, smell, or hear- 
ing may arise; there may be complete inability 
to distinguish sound or music, or to tell the dif- 
ference in odors or in the taste of food. Some- 
times there may be hallucinations of hearing in 
the delirious state of hysteria; occasionally there 
may be a persistent hallucination of smell with 
a clearly retained consciousness, as in Freud's 
famous case of the patient who was troubled by 
the odor of burnt pudding. To a detailed ac- 
count of this case, which in a way has become 
classical, we will return later. 

The most important of the disturbances of 
the special sense in hysteria are those referable 
to sight. The field of vision may be limited 
in all directions, forming what is known as the 
concentric limitation of the visual field. This 
limitation of the visual field in hysteria applies 
equally well to all colors, whether white, red, or 



244 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

green. Now the visual field in normal individ- 
uals extends from about 60 to 90 degrees in all 
directions. In hysteria this may be moderately 
or markedly retracted in all directions down to 
30 or 40 degrees, or as in one case which recently 
came under observation the visual field did not 
exceed 10 degrees. Of course, in this case the 
patient was practically blind in the affected eye. 
Hysterical blindness may also occur, usually 
appearing and disappearing suddenly. In all 
these hysterical disturbances of sight the optic 
nerve is found to be absolutely normal, a fact 
which speaks strongly for the purely functional 
nature of the condition. Hysterical patients 
whose visual field is markedly narrowed will be 
observed to intelligently avoid all obstacles, 
which shows that the disorder of sight, like the 
disturbance of sensation, is not real but only 
apparent. In fact, subconscious persistence of 
vision takes place in the same way as the sub- 
conscious persistence of lost sensations to which 
we have already referred. This has been very 
well pointed out by Janet in the recent work on 
the " Major Symptoms of Hysteria." He says: 

" Hystericals who have an exceedingly small visual 
field, run without in the least troubling themselves about 
it. This is a curious fact to which I remember having 
attracted the attention of Charcot, who had not re- 



HYSTERIA 245 

marked it, and was very much surprised at it. I 
showed him two of our young patients playing very 
cleverly at ball in the court yard of La Salpetriere. 
Then having brought them before him, I remarked to 
him that their visual field was reduced to a point, and 
I asked him whether he would be capable of playing at 
ball, if he had before each eye a card merely pierced 
with a pin-hole. It is one of the finest examples that 
can be shown of the persistence of subconscious sensa- 
tions in hysteria. 

Besides, I had shortly afterwards the opportunity 
of making a still more precise experiment on the same 
point. A young boy had violent crises of terror caused 
by fire, and it was enough to show him a small flame for 
the fit to begin again. Now his visual field was re- 
duced to five degrees and he seemed to see absolutely 
nothing outside of it. I showed that I could provoke 
his fit by merely making him fix his eyes on the central 
point of the perimeter and then approaching a lighted 
match to the eightieth degree." 

As a rare symptom there have also been re- 
ported peculiar illusions of vision in which 
objects appear either abnormally large or ab- 
normally small. The peculiar fact in the vari- 
ous disturbances of vision, particularly in the 
narrowing of the visual field, is that the patient 
is indifferent to it. He believes his vision to be 
normal, in the same manner that the anaesthetic 
subject believes his sensation to be normal. 

A group of other peculiar phenomena may 



246 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

appear in hysteria, such as sudden swelling 
around the joints, high fever without any ap- 
parent cause, persistent vomiting, disgust and 
distaste for food, sometimes leading to absolute 
refusal of food, and occasionally bleeding from 
the mucous membrane of the mouth, which may 
resemble a hemorrhage from the lungs. 

Another frequent set of symptoms are the 
various convulsive attacks. These convulsive 
attacks strongly resemble genuine epilepsy; in 
fact, so strong is the resemblance that frequently 
a correct diagnosis can be made only after pro- 
longed observation and study. The convulsions 
may be general in nature or limited to one limb, 
but are less inco-ordinate than in epilepsy. As 
a rule the attack begins with a sense of constric- 
tion in the throat and the patient has no memory 
for the attack. Sometimes the memories for a 
period antedating the attack are apparently 
completely obliterated (retrograde amnesia). 
We say apparently, for by proper artificial de- 
vices the lost memories may be completely re- 
stored. We have already referred to some of 
this work in a previous chapter. In the attack 
itself there may be a complete unconsciousness, 
or the patient may alternately laugh and cry. 
Peculiar attitudes are taken, the body being 
sometimes arched in half a circle, the patient 
resting on the head and heels. Other motor 



HYSTERIA 247 

phenomena are the attacks of stupor and of 
sleep; occasionally a condition of catalepsy may 
arise, so that the limbs may be moulded in any 
position as though they were made of wax. 
Sometimes periods of sleep wandering may take 
place, known as somnambulism. 

More important, however, than the physical 
symptoms are the mental states of hystericals. 
These mental states are legion. There may be 
malingering, unstable emotions, loss of memory, 
weakness of will, increased suggestibility, de- 
lirium or stupor, subconscious acts, fixed ideas, 
and finally, severe modifications and changes in 
character, leading to double or multiple per- 
sonalities. Hallucinations of the various senses 
may arise, and also peculiar dreamy states of 
consciousness. The mental state is far more im- 
portant than the physical side of hysteria, but it 
probably has the same underlying mechanism. 

We have thus very hastily and in a very frag- 
mentary manner reviewed the principal mental 
and physical symptoms of hysteria as they have 
been outlined by the French school. Hysteria 
may take one or any of these forms, or it may 
widely depart from the usual classical descrip- 
tion. What, then, is the cause of these multi- 
form symptoms, how are they to be explained, 
and how does the hysterical mechanism work? 
Many theories have been propounded for the 



248 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

cause of hysteria, and although these theories 
may differ in some minor points, yet their es- 
sential ideas remain the same. In other words 
we seem to be dealing with a peculiar men- 
tal state, but whether this mental state is one 
of increased suggestibility, or an effort on the 
part of the subject to get rid of painful ideas 
or of suppressed emotions, the result seems to 
be the same, namely a dissociation of conscious- 
ness leading to mild or severe changes in the 
personality. We shall now review these theories 
somewhat in detail. 

The work of Janet may be taken as a type of 
the leading theories of the French school. 1 
After dismissing anaesthesia and falsehood as a 
necessary accompaniment of hysteria he states 
that the most fundamental stigma of the disease 
is increased suggestibility. He insists on the 
marked resemblance between experimental sug- 
gestion or hypnosis and spontaneous suggestion 
or hysteria, thus agreeing with the recent con- 
ception of Grasset. Suggestion is the develop- 
ment of an idea, while abstraction is a form of 
exaggerated absent-mindedness, and both exist 
to an astonishing degree in hysteria. The sub- 
conscious phenomena of hysteria are the results 
of this disposition to an exaggerated absent- 
Pierre Janet: "The Mental State of Hystericals"; "The 
Major Symptoms of Hysteria." 



HYSTERIA 249 

mindedness ; the mind is too narrow to take in a 
number of ideas at the same time and certain 
perceptions do not enter consciousness. To this 
condition Janet applies the phrase "retraction 
of the field of consciousness." In anaesthesia, it 
is sensation which escapes personal perception; 
in paralysis it is movement; in amnesia the 
storing up or conservation of impressions is en- 
tirely disregarded by the patient and hence re- 
production of these impressions is at fault. 
Ideas are very important factors in the symp- 
toms of hysteria. These ideas are all-powerful 
and dominating, and act upon the body in an 
abnormal manner. The retraction of the field 
of consciousness either gives too much power 
to certain ideas or certain ideas may temporarily 
drop out of the field of conscious perception. 
Hence, on the one hand there arises the exag- 
gerated motility of hysteria, and on the other 
hand, the peculiar amnesia, anaesthesia, and 
paralyses. Hysteria, therefore, according to 
Janet's interpretation, is a disease of personal 
synthesis, a form of mental depression, char- 
acterized by a narrowing of the field of personal 
consciousness and a tendency to the dissociation 
and emancipation of the systems of ideas and 
functions which constitute the personality. Its 
starting point is a depression, an exhaustion of 
the higher functions of the brain. The dissocia- 



250 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

tion seems to follow several laws; it reacts most 
powerfully on a function that was weak and dis- 
turbed. The most complicated functions dis- 
appear first and that particular function is in- 
hibited which was in full activity at the time the 
emotion or fatigue had its dissociating effect. 
According to Janet most cases of alternating 
personality are hysterical in nature. Hysterical 
anaesthesia is a certain species of absent-minded- 
ness ; the sensation itself has not disappeared but 
is merely dissociated, that is, not connected with 
the totality of consciousness. In the normal 
absent-mindedness of everyday life there is also, 
temporarily at least, a condition of anaesthesia 
and amnesia, and sometimes even increased sug- 
gestibility and a decrease of motor control. 
In absent-mindedness, too, we may pay little or 
no attention to a pinch or a pin-prick, we may 
assume an attitude in which we seem tempo- 
rarily devoid of all ability to move the limbs, or 
we may perform absurd actions which can after- 
wards be recalled in memory only through a 
special device. Thus we see how many of the 
phenomena of the hypnotic state or even of the 
disease hysteria may be found in an abortive and 
temporary form in normal absent-mindedness. 
In the hysterical amnesias there is no real ob- 
livion or destruction of memorial images; it is 
not conservation that is at fault, but merely 



HYSTERIA 251 

the impossibility of spontaneous reproduction, 
yet frequently the memory may be restored by 
artificial devices. In hysterical paralysis it is 
the idea of the motion of the limb that is lost or 
dissociated and not the motion itself. Some- 
times this loss comprises an entire system of 
images of movement as in astasia-abasia. In 
hysterical blindness or hemianopsia there is no 
real blindness, the visual images or stimuli being 
merely suppressed. 

Thus we see how both Charcot and Janet laid 
great stress upon a state of increased suggesti- 
bility, as forming one of the principal mental 
stigmata of hysteria. On this basis another 
French neurologist, Babinski, has recently 
brought forth another theory of the disease. 
He denies the invariability of all so-called hys- 
terical stigmata, claiming that they are all pro- 
duced by the suggestion, conscious or uncon- 
scious, of the examiner. According to Babinski, 
when great care is taken to exclude any form of 
suggestion during the medical examination, these 
stigmata do not appear. This view thus makes 
use of a state of increased suggestibility as a 
basis for the production of an entire range of 
mental and physical symptoms. Emphatically 
and almost dogmatically he affirms that the com- 
mon stigmata of hysteria, such as limitation of 
the field of vision and hemi-ansesthesia, never 



252 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

occur in the patients under his control, since he 
studiously avoids any element of suggestion in 
the examination. Hysteria has two prominent 
characteristics; first, the possibility of producing 
some of the symptoms of the disease through 
suggestion, and, secondly, the effect of sugges- 
tion in making the symptoms of the disease dis- 
appear. It might be asked pertinently, does he 
also make the abnormal mental state of in- 
creased suggestibility disappear, a mental state 
through which he claims all the symptoms are 
reproduced? The suggestion theory of Babin- 
ski cannot certainly be accepted without con- 
siderable criticism or without great caution. It 
is true that no hysterical symptoms develop 
without suggestion, either on the part of the 
examiner or as the result of unconscious auto- 
suggestion on the part of the patient. Babinski 
says nothing as to the ultimate nature of the 
disease. According to him hysteria is not 
a pathological state, but is always the result of 
a simulation or of suggestion. What Babinski 
has done is not to explain the mechanism of hys- 
teria, but to lay emphasis upon one of its promi- 
nent mental stigmata — namely, a state of in- 
creased suggestibility, which, acting from within 
or from without, can produce a long line of 
morbid symptoms. Certainly many of the 
most prominent symptoms of hysteria cannot 



HYSTERIA 253 

be explained by Babinski's theory. 1 If a sub- 
ject is so abnormal as to be open to such a great 
degree to suggestions of paralysis or loss of 
sensation, it must logically follow such a sub- 
ject is in a diseased mental condition. 

S oilier 2 has given us a physiological theory 
for the disease, in contradistinction to the usual 
psychological interpretations. He claims that 
hysteria is a peculiar going to sleep of portions 
and at times of the whole brain. He says, 
" Hysteria is a physical, functional disturbance 
of the brain, consisting in a torpor or sleep, 
local or general, of the cortical (brain) centres, 
and manifesting itself, according to the centres 
affected, by vasomotor or trophic, visceral and 
sensory, motor and psychic disturbances, and, 
according to its variations, its degree and dura- 
tion, by transitory crises, permanent stigmata or 
paroxysmal accidents. Confirmed hysterics are 
only somnambulists whose state of sleep is more 
or less profound, more or less extensive." Of 
this physiological theory of hysteria, it can only 
be said, that somnambulistic episodes are very 
rare in the disease, and when they do occur, it is 
an effect rather than a cause. 

In America Dr. Morton Prince has given 

*J. Babinski: "Ma Conception de l'Hysterie et de l'Hypnotisme." 
Archives Ge"n6ral de Medecine, 1906. 

2 Sollier: " Genese et Nature de l'Hysterie." 



254 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

us the most complete study of the hyster- 
ical mechanism, interpreting the phenomena 
from a purely functional and psychological 
standpoint. He applies his theories to all forms 
of this protean disease, from the slight disturb- 
ances of sensation to the classical picture of the 
deeper dissociations, such as paralysis, hemi- 
anesthesia, amnesia, and the changes in the per- 
sonality. According to Dr. Prince, one of the 
most prominent mental stigmata of hysteria is 
the so-called neurasthenic state, which may be 
one result of a mental dissociation. He finds 
the same symptom complex in the so-called 
dissociated or multiple personality, as in the 
disease hysteria, and both conditions are merely 
manifestations of a dissociated personality. 1 
He says, " The alternation in mass of an hys- 
terical state with the normal condition allows it 
to be seen that the hysterical symptom com- 
plex is not only a disintegration of the person- 
ality, but, from one point of view, a phase of 
multiple personality. The changing back and 
forth of the two states, with amnesia on the 
part of one or the other, or both, brings out 
the contrast between the hysteric and the nor- 
mal. The hysteric stands out plainly as a dif- 
ferent personality, in the sense of a disintegrated 

1 In addition to other publications previously cited, see " Hysteria 
from the Point of View of Dissociated Personality." — Journal 
Abnormal Psychology, October, 1906. 



HYSTERIA 255 

personality with a well-organized, though patho- 
logically deranged nervous system. There is a 
doubling of personality, a normal and an ab- 
normal one, and the abnormal hysteric is seen 
to be a phase of this double personality. Before 
the phenomenon of alteration was established, 
this doubling was obscured by the gradual tran- 
sition from health to disease and by the reten- 
tion of memory. There was no contrast. 
Nevertheless at this period the pathological con- 
dition was in every way identical with that 
which existed after alteration occurred. The 
conclusion to which our analysis of the case 
brings us, is that certain symptom complexes 
which commonly pass under the name of hys- 
teria, with or without amnesia, are from another 
point of view to be regarded as disintegrated or 
multiple personality, and if taken in connection 
with the normal condition, may be regarded as 
a phase of multiple personality. That is to 
say, the previous or later acquired normal state 
may be regarded as one personality, and the dis- 
integrated hysteric as another. As the hysteria, 
ordinarily developed insidiously, and equally 
gradually returns to health, retaining a continu- 
ous memory through the whole cycle, the split- 
ting of the personality and the multiple char- 
acteristics are disguised. One condition slides 
into the other so gradually that, in the absence 



256 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

of any loss of memory, there is nothing to mark 
the division of the personality. But when, as is 
sometimes the case, a sudden restoration to 
health is effected, bringing with it an amnesia 
on the part of the hysteric or of the restored 
normal person, then the duality of personality 
becomes plainly recognizable." This identity 
of the hysterical state with multiple personality 
was clearly brought out by Dr. Prince in two 
carefully studied cases, that of Miss Beauchamp 
and that of B. C. A. 

Miss Beauchamp was a classical picture of 
hysteria, and yet, when she first came under 
observation, B. I. was the only personality in 
existence. This B. I. had typical neurasthenic 
symptoms, such as fatigue, insomnia, and pains 
without any physical basis. These neurasthenic 
symptoms were proven to be merely one phase 
of the hysterical dissociation. When the other 
personalities developed, many of the various 
hysterical stigmata could be established, the 
weakness of the will, instability, abnormal sug- 
gestibility and limitation of the field of con- 
sciousness. When a relapse occurred after 
restoration by treatment to the normal healthy 
individual, there was found to be a loss of mem- 
ory of the developed, hysterical condition for 
the normal individual. 

The case B. C. A. could also be interpreted 



HYSTERIA 257 

as one of hysteria. Like Miss Beauchamp, when 
first seen she also presented the picture of ordi- 
nary neurasthenia, such as fatigue and the 
usual physical symptoms. This phase was de- 
scribed as state A. Later another state, sud- 
denly developed, which was described as B. A., 
had no memory for B. but the latter not only 
possessed a full knowledge of A., but persisted 
co-consciously when A. was present. This lat- 
ter phenomenon was well shown by the psycho- 
galvanic experiments. B. was, therefore, both 
an alternating and a co-conscious state. Be- 
sides differences in memory, both A. and B. 
had distinctly different characteristics. While 
A. was neurasthenic, B. showed a state of 
exaltation and complete freedom from neuras- 
thenia. It was shown after long study, that 
neither A. nor B. represented the normal, 
complete personality. The normal state was 
finally obtained in hypnosis, and on being awak- 
ened from hypnosis, a personality was found to 
have developed which possessed the combined 
memories of A. and B., and was free from the 
abnormal symptoms which characterized each. 
This normal personality called C. had, there- 
fore, split into the two abnormal personalities, 
A. and B. 1 

1 See "My Life as a Dissociated Personality." — Journal Ab- 
normal Psychology, Vol. III. 



258 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

We are now prepared to take up a theory of 
the mechanism of hysteria which has recently 
attracted much attention — namely, the studies 
of Dr. Sigmund Freud of Vienna. Beginning 
with certain temporary dissociations which take 
place in normal individuals, called by Freud 
the psychopathology of everyday life, he gradu- 
ally applied his theories to the study of the com- 
plex pathological state of hysteria and found 
that the same mechanism underlay both condi- 
tions. In normal cases, however, this mechanism 
was temporary and isolated; in the hysteric it 
was protracted and acted upon the entire mental 
physical life. In his studies of the psycho- 
neuroses he claimed that all hysterical symptoms 
were manifestations or expressions of a wish 
fulfilment, particularly of a sexual nature. In 
normal everyday life disagreeable or painful 
thoughts are always forgotten; we intentionally, 
or even unconsciously push them out of con- 
sciousness, so as to free ourselves from dis- 
agreeable feelings or pain. This may be called 
a mental protective mechanism. In some of 
the ordinary dreams of everyday life, its pur- 
poseless actions or its absent-minded acts, its 
forgetting of names and places, slips of the 
tongue, or mistakes in writing remain temporary 
because we are able to crowd out these dis- 
agreeable feelings or ideas at will. Sometimes, 



HYSTERIA 259 

however, a disagreeable incident remains in our 
unconscious memory, forming what Freud calls 
a complex. Then, because we have no control 
over it, this complex acts in a pathological 
manner. It cannot run its normal course and, 
therefore, becomes converted or changed into the 
condition which we designate as hysteria. The 
method of digging out this buried complex and 
bringing it to light or consciousness and, there- 
fore, to conscious control, is called psycho- 
analysis. Now this psycho-analysis may be per- 
formed in a number of ways as has already been 
indicated. 

An abstract of the analysis of one of Freud's 
cases will make this clear. The patient, a gov- 
erness, was sent to Freud, because she was 
troubled by the persistent hallucination of the 
smell of burnt pudding. When the patient was 
placed in abstraction (here abstraction was 
the device used for psycho-analysis) and she 
was asked to recall the occasion on which she 
first was troubled by the odor, she gave the 
following account, " It was about two months 
ago, two days before my birthday. I was 
with the children in the schoolroom and was 
playing with them at cooking, when a letter 
was brought in, which had just been left by 
the postman. I knew from the postmark and 
handwriting that it was from my mother, and 



260 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

was about to open and read it when the chil- 
dren rushed at me and tore the letter from my 
hand, saying, ' No, you mustn't read it now, it's 
sure to be a congratulatory letter for your 
birthday, we'll take it away from you.' While 
they were playing about me a strong odor 
suddenly spread through the room. The chil- 
dren had left the pudding which they were 
cooking, and it was burnt. Ever since the smell 
has pursued me." Further examination, how- 
ever, revealed the fact that the patient had occa- 
sionally secretly cherished the hope of taking the 
place of the children's mother, and it was only 
with great difficulty that she was able to get rid 
of this idea. The psychical excitement, the 
birthday, and the sexual emotion had become 
symbolized, converted into the hallucination 
of smell. Here we see how, at the bottom, 
the sexual element, or rather the sexual 
repression was a controlling factor in this 
process. 

It could be shown, that the forgetting of 
events which were brought out only by analysis 
was intentional and desired. Concerning the 
peculiar site of the hallucinations in this case, 
Freud states, "It is quite unusual to select sen- 
sations of smell as memory symbols of traumas, 
but it is quite obvious why these were here 
selected. The patient was afflicted with a pur- 



HYSTERIA 261 

ulent rhinitis, hence the nose and its perceptions 
were in the foreground of her attention." 

Painful experiences, usually having a sexual 
coloring, which may or may not be accompanied 
by a physical expression, may occur. The im- 
print or experience may fade out of conscious- 
ness, but the symbolic emotion which first at- 
tended it remains and continues to recur. For 
this to take place Freud postulates at the time 
of the original emotion, that the patient was in 
a state of abstraction called by him an hyp- 
noidal condition. He works out his principles 
and theories with great detail and with con- 
summate literary skill. These repressed emo- 
tions are the mischief-makers at the bottom of 
all hysteria. If they are given an opportunity 
to complete themselves, if the patient in a state 
of relaxation and passivity (abstraction) is 
asked to talk out these painful experiences, to 
bring them vividly before his mind, they " cease 
from troubling " and a decided therapeutic ef- 
fect is the result. It is the unconscious experi- 
ences, the experiences which we cannot recall, of 
which we are unaware, that cause the trouble. 
By certain technical devices we may become 
aware of them, showing that they were disso- 
ciated, preserved in the subconscious mental life. 

According to Freud, there are three distinct 
types of hysteria, which he designates as defence 



262 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

hysteria, hypnoid hysteria, and retention hys- 
teria. He criticises Janet's theoiy that a split- 
ting of consciousness is the primary feature of 
the hysterical alteration, and yet is forced to 
admit that this splitting exists in a rudimentary 
form in every hysterical case. Freud defines 
the defence hysterias as those types of cases in 
which the splitting of consciousness was an 
unconscious arbitrary act on the part of the 
subject. The subject sought to banish a painful 
emotion or experience from his mind. In the 
hypnoid hysteria there is a dreamy state of con- 
sciousness, in which the abnormal ideas are iso- 
lated from communication with the rest of con- 
sciousness. In the retention hysterias, as he was 
able to demonstrate by the psycho-analysis of 
intelligent patients, the splitting of consciousness 
plays an insignificant part, perhaps no part at 
all. The hysterical symptoms in these cases arise 
as the result of an absence of reaction to a painful 
experience, usually of a sexual nature. 

A few quotations from Freud's original con- 
tributions will make his complex theories more 
intelligible: 

" Nevertheless, the causal connection between the 
provoking psychic trauma and the hysterical phenom- 
enon does not perhaps resemble the trauma which, as 
the provoking agent, would call forth the symptom 



HYSTERIA 263 

which would become independent and continue to exist. 
We have to claim still more, namely, that the psychic 
trauma or the memory of the same acts like a foreign 
body which even long after its penetration must con- 
tinue to influence like a new causation factor. We 
found, at first to our greatest surprise, that the 
individual hysterical symptoms immediately disap- 
peared without returning if we succeed in thoroughly 
awakening the memories of the causal process with its 
accompanying emotion and if the patient circumstan- 
tially discussed the process, giving free play to the 
emotions. Emotionless memories are almost utterly 
useless. Those memories which become the cause of 
hysterical phenomena have been preserved for a long 
time with wonderful freshness and with their perfect 
emotional tone. As a further striking and later realiz- 
able fact we have to mention that the patients do not 
perhaps have the same control of these as of their other 
memories of life. On the contrary these experiences 
are either completely lacking from the memory of the 
patients in their normal psychic state or at most exist 
greatly abridged. . . . The splitting of conscious- 
ness, so striking in the familiar classical cases of double 
consciousness, exists rudimentarily in every hysteria, 
and the tendency towards the appearance of abnormal 
states of consciousness which we comprehend as 'hyp- 
noid states,' is the chief phenomenon of this neurosis." 
(Psychic Mechanism of Hysterical Phenomena.) 

In a later contribution Freud claims that the 
voluntary incursions of daydreams into con- 



264 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

sciousness, or in other words, the fantastic 
reveries of youth, are the normal, psychical 
prototypes of hysterical symptoms: 

" The hysterical symptoms are nothing other than un- 
conscious fancies brought to light by conversions. . . . 
The technic of psycho-analysis gives the means of 
finding out for the symptoms the unconscious fancies 
and then of bringing them back to the patient's con- 
sciousness. (Hysterical Fancies.) Therefore, the 
hysterical's symptoms may be a memory symbol of cer- 
tain experiences, the expression of a wish realization 
or the realization of an unconscious fancy serving as a 
wish fulfilment." 

Considerable stress is laid upon the fact that 
many hysterical symptoms represent a portion 
of the sexual experiences of the individual. 1 

Such is a brief account of Freud's dynamic 
theory of hysteria. For more detailed study, 
the reader is referred to the original publica- 
tions. 2 It will be seen that the modern tendency 
is to disregard the usual classical physical symp- 
toms of hysteria as necessary for a diagnosis 
and to interpret certain types of mental disso- 

1 The quotations from Freud are taken from a translation of 
some of his work by Dr. A. A. Brill. (" Selected Papers on 
Hysteria and other Psycho-Neuroses," 1909.) 

2 See chapter on the " Analysis of the Mental Life," where a 
more detailed account of psycho-analysis may be found. 



HYSTERIA 265 

ciation as an hysterical complex. Sometimes 
the condition acts on the whole organism; at 
others, a few isolated symptoms may be the only 
manifestations of the dissociation, such as a loss 
of sensation limited to a portion of one limb. 
In either case, the underlying mechanism is very 
complex. It is certainly a step in the right 
direction to lay more stress on the mental state 
of hystericals than on the time-honored, so- 
called physical stigmata. It seems, therefore, 
that, according to Janet, any sudden emotion 
may cause hysteria while, according to Freud, 
only those emotions or ideas cause hysteria 
which are painful, and which the subject has 
difficulty in expelling. Evidently any emotion, 
if severe enough, can have a selective action 
in causing a mental dissociation. 

Let us follow the ramifications of two cases 
of hysteria, one with the symptoms in full 
bloom, — the other, what we may call abortive 
hysteria, or hysteria in the making, in which 
the neurasthenic complex was the predominating 
symptom, until the searchlight of psycho- 
analysis revealed what lay at the bottom of the 
hysterical disturbance. 

In some of the previous chapters we have 
already seen different types of hysterical cases, 
such as sudden losses of memory associated with 
a wandering impulse, what is called a hysterical 



266 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

fugue, and later restoration of these lost mem- 
ories by means of certain technical devices; a 
case showing multiple hypnotic personalities, 
and a hysterical paralysis and loss of sensation; 
another case of hysteria with a localized anaes- 
thesia and weakness of the arms occurring after 
the emotional shock of a funeral, and analyzed 
by means of the association tests; and finally 
the case of a young woman in whom the various 
devices of psycho-analysis were able to bring 
to light the cause of her hysterical attacks and 
finally to effect a cure. So we see that the dis- 
ease hysteria is not confined to any one type 
or to the classical description. In fact we may 
have all forms of hysteria, from the slightest 
disturbance of sensation and motion to com- 
plete changes in the personality. It seems best, 
therefore, to speak of the hysterias rather than 
of hysteria. 

A subject of great interest and importance 
is the evolution of hysteria, its study in the 
earliest stages, or what may be called hysteria 
in the making. At the very outset of the dis- 
ease, Janet found that his subjects were free 
from any anaesthesia. He established, however, 
a remarkable indifference and absent-mindedness 
to all the phenomena of sensibility. This absent- 
mindedness to sensations was interpreted as a 
phenomenon which precedes anaesthesia. 



HYSTERIA 267 

Sometimes in the very earlier stages of hys- 
teria the only symptoms are those of a state of 
neurasthenic depression. The neurasthenic de- 
pression may be a newly developed personality, 
or it may be the result of an effort to banish a 
painful experience from consciousness. An ex- 
ample of this latter condition I once had the 
opportunity to observe. It related to the case 
of a young woman, a school-teacher, who some 
weeks after her return from her summer vaca- 
tion suddenly stopped teaching. She became 
depressed, claimed that she was not equal to 
the work, everything seemed dreamlike to her, 
there was a marked sense of fatigue, and her 
head ached and felt heavy. Sleep was poor and 
broken by dreams of her school work. She be- 
came seclusive, anti-social, unable to concentrate 
her mind, and claimed that her thoughts were 
scattered and wandering. Literature with which 
she was formerly well acquainted now seemed 
strange and unreal to her as if she had read it 
for the first time. None of the so-called physical 
stigmata of hysteria were present. Psycho- 
analysis, however, brought out the fact that dur- 
ing her vacation period a certain affair had taken 
place. Certain experiences in this affair finally 
led to the whole matter becoming painful and 
distasteful to her. On her return to work the 
effort to banish these experiences from con- 



268 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

sciousness led to the symptoms already detailed. 
If we interpret this case from Freud's stand- 
point, it would seem as if the mechanism in- 
volved in the effort to put a painful experience 
out of mind had led to a state of mental disso- 
ciation, which in this case took the form of hys- 
teria. It is true that the condition here de- 
scribed did not conform with the usual descrip- 
tion of the disease, but we have already pointed 
out how wide is the conception of hysteria, and 
how many forms the disease may take. 

So important is the subject that even at the 
risk of repetition we will report another case 
of hysteria. This case will show how an emo- 
tional disturbance finally acquired a separate 
and independent activity and how it led to 
a dissociation, manifesting itself by losses of 
memory, disturbances of sensation, and narrow- 
ing of the field of vision. Finally typical hys- 
terical attacks developed through mere associa- 
tion. The case showed that hysterical anaesthesia 
was not real anaesthesia, that hysterical losses of 
memory were not real losses of memory, and 
that the basis of the condition was an emo- 
tional experience which became dissociated from 
consciousness and took on an independent and 
automatic activity. A young woman had suf- 
fered for two years from the following at- 
tacks, which were sometimes repeated several 



HYSTERIA 269 

times a week. The attacks began with severe 
headaches, then she would commence to scream, 
at times violently striking at those about her 
or breaking objects. There was no memory 
of these attacks, the amnesic period sometimes 
comprising several hours. On one or two oc- 
casions she had a typical fugue, would wander 
through the streets for several hours at a 
time, and then would suddenly come to her- 
self without any memory for the period of 
wandering. Examination showed complete loss 
of sensation over the entire right side of the 
body involving the tongue and mouth, a limita- 
tion of the vision to 35 degrees in all directions, 
loss of taste and smell in the right nostril and 
on the right side of the tongue, and a diminu- 
tion of hearing on the right. During one of 
the attacks of excitement she was very violent 
to several members of the household; on another 
occasion she attempted suicide by drinking car- 
bolic acid, on still another occasion an attack 
followed attendance at a wedding. The patient 
was easily hypnotized and had complete am- 
nesia for the hypnotic state. In hypnosis the 
anaesthesia disappeared spontaneously, to re- 
turn again when the patient was awakened. In 
her waking condition she could not explain the 
attacks nor account for their origin. In hyp- 
nosis, however, she stated that two years previ- 



270 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

ously, shortly before her sister's wedding she 
was awakened from a sound sleep one midnight, 
by the voices of her two sisters quarrelling in 
the next room. As this was an unusual circum- 
stance in her household she immediately went 
into a state of great fear and trembling and 
was unable to sleep the remainder of the night. 
Three days later she had her first attack of 
screaming and violence. One of the later at- 
tacks at a wedding can easily be explained on 
the basis of associating her first attack with her 
sister's wedding. Furthermore, both in hyp- 
nosis and in states of experimental distraction 
I was able to completely restore the lost mem- 
ories, although the experiences were revived in a 
rather fragmentary manner. This fragmentary 
return of the dissociated experiences is well 
indicated in the isolated synthesis as follows, 
" All that came to my mind, is — that I'd like 
to go away." (The patient frequently repeated 
this latter phrase in the attacks.) " Two weeks 
ago I had a dream, in which I thought that I 
would like to kill my father and mother." 
(In her last attack she actually did refuse 
to allow her father and mother to enter the 
room and spoke of killing them.) " I re- 
member I had a big bottle of carbolic acid and 
drank some, and a smooth-faced doctor came 
in and gave me something to drink and put 



HYSTERIA £71 

hot water to my feet " (correct) . "I know 
how I broke the plate now. The plate was 
standing on the stove and I broke it with my 
left hand" (correct). 1 

In the treatment of hysteria, two things must 
be taken into consideration. First, the tendency 
to increased suggestibility and emotionalism 
should be combated; second, an attempt should 
be made to unify the split states of conscious- 
ness. Re-education of the emotions is of great 
importance, but whether this re-education should 
be accomplished by isolation, persuasion, the 
personality of the physician, or ignoring of 
symptoms or psycho-analysis is merely a matter 
of individual technic. The individual symp- 
toms such as the paralysis, anaesthesia, convul- 
sions, contractures, pains, tremors, require ap- 
propriate treatment, particularly electricity, mas- 
sage, and special baths. The psychic treatment 
of hysteria, which may be carried out by any 
of the modern psychotherapeutic methods, re- 
quires training and skill. Any element of ab- 
normal suggestion must be carefully avoided, 
otherwise the ends of treatment might be de- 
feated, by unconsciously substituting a new hys- 
terical symptom for one which has disappeared. 

*For a more detailed account of the conservation of memories 
in hysterical amnesia see " The Mechanism of Amnesia." — Journal 
of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. IV, No. 1, 1909. 



272 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

Some hysterical cases require psycho-analysis; 
in others, isolation is indicated; in still others, 
purely physical therapy is called for. There is 
no one line of treatment for the disease. The 
treatment must be modified according to the 
cause of the disease, its evolution, its particular 
symptoms, by the social condition and age of 
the patient, and finally, by the patient's per- 
sonality. 



CHAPTER VI 

PSYCH ASTHENIA 

For a number of years it had been observed 
that states of pathological fear or anxiety, ob- 
sessions, and fixed ideas, were associated with a 
peculiar mental state. These various symptoms 
were formerly thought to be a part of neuras- 
thenia, and hence arose such phrases as neuras- 
thenia with fixed ideas, neurasthenia with fear, 
etc. In 1908, however, Janet x showed that these 
multiform symptoms were part of a distinct 
nervous disease, which he termed psychasthenia. 
This psychasthenic neurosis, while in many cases 
it bore some resemblance to neurasthenia, hys- 
teria, and epilepsy, yet had many symptoms 
which occurred in it alone and enabled it to be 
clearly recognized. These symptoms were 
partly mental and partly physical. They will 
be described in the course of this chapter and 
may be thus enumerated: 

1. Obsessions of various kinds, such as obses- 
sions of sacrilege, crime, disgrace of self and 
body, and hypochondriacal obsessions. 

1 Pierre Janet: "Les Obsessions et la Psychasthenic," 1903. 
273 



274 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

2. The various mental agitations, such as 
manias of interrogation, doubt, precision, pre- 
caution, repetition, conjuration, and arithmet- 
ical manias. 

3. Motor agitations or tics. 

4. Emotional agitations, which comprised the 
various phobias or fears, such as phobias of ob- 
jects (delire du contact), phobias of situation 
(agarophobia or fear of open places, and claus- 
trophobia or fear of closed places), and the 
states of anxiety. Like hysteria, which has so 
many so-called physical and mental stigmata, 
various stigmata were likewise found in the 
psychasthenic state and served to distinguish it 
from hysteria. These stigmata are the feelings 
of incompleteness in action, in all intellectual 
problems, in the emotional sphere, and in per- 
sonal perception. Under the latter are grouped 
the strange feelings of unreality and of deper- 
sonalization, called by Janet psycholeptic crises. 
Other stigmata of psychasthenia are disorders of 
the will, of the intelligence, and of the emotions. 
Many psychasthenic states also present physical 
symptoms such as headache, digestive and cir- 
culatory disturbances, sleeplessness, and exhaus- 
tion. 

A detailed account of a psychasthenic case 
will make the condition more comprehensible. 
This case is taken because it presents in a fairly 



PSYCHASTHENIA £75 

typical form the headache, gastric symptoms, 
tics, phobias, depression, lack of energy, and 
feeling of unreality, which occur in so many 
psychasthenic states. The patient was a young 
man whose mother had been a neurasthenic 
and suffered from sleeplessness for years, and 
whose sister had nervous dyspepsia. (Neuro- 
pathic heredity.) As a boy he stammered 
badly, suffered from severe one-sided head- 
ache (migraine), and on one occasion, lasting 
for nearly two years, there was twitching of 
the face and the eyelids (tics). Ever since 
reaching adult life, certain words could be 
pronounced only with great difficulty, and 
synonyms were often substituted (stammering 
as a form of mental tic) . Whenever he becomes 
excited, there arises a feeling of distress in the 
stomach (unstable emotional state). For a 
number of years there has been a feeling of 
mental depression associated with digestive dis- 
turbances, and although the stomach contents 
have been repeatedly examined, they have been 
found normal. When he was about fourteen 
years old, he remembers having had an attack 
of unreality, which lasted about twenty min- 
utes. Two years before he came under obser- 
vation he was sitting in a theatre one evening, 
when suddenly a feeling of faintness took pos- 
session of him. This lasted three or four min- 



276 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

utes, but he did not lose consciousness. Within 
a month this feeling recurred three or four 
times, usually in church, theatre, or a public 
place, and he felt that if he did faint, it would 
be exceedingly embarrassing for him. As a 
result, he developed a fear of crowds and closed 
places (claustrophobia) and has almost entirely 
avoided any public gathering. Sometimes the 
head feels dazed, and he is depressed and fa- 
tigued a great deal of the time. Occasionally he 
is subject to peculiar nervous crises with a sense 
of unreality. A vague fear will take possession 
of him, then headache, eructations of gas from 
the stomach, then suddenly for a brief period, 
objects about him appear as if in a haze, dim, 
small, far away, "as if I am looking through 
the wrong end of an opera glass." (Psycho- 
epileptic crisis.) 

These psychasthenic conditions, which seem 
to be related on one hand to hysteria and neuras- 
thenia, and on the other to epilepsy, are of great 
clinical and psychological interest. There is but 
little doubt, however, that psychasthenia forms 
a clinical entity, for the disease picture has 
symptoms which occur in no other functional 
neurosis, at least in such fully developed and 
intense forms. This psychasthenic neurosis is a 
very complex mental state and comprises the en- 
tire range of obsessions, impulses, mental manias, 



PSYCHASTHENIA 277 

tics, agitations, phobias, states of anxiety, feel- 
ings of inadequacy, and the peculiar feelings of 
strangeness, unreality, and depersonalization. 
According to Janet, these multiple phenomena 
are the result of what he called a lowering of 
the psychological tension, just as hysteria was 
to him a narrowing of the field of consciousness. 
Some of the German writers, in particular 
Freud, interpret the condition on a purely 
sexual basis and look upon the obsessions, fixed 
ideas, and phobias as the result of the substitu- 
tion for certain suppressed sexual ideas and 
emotions. An effort to keep this sexual complex 
in the background of consciousness causes vari- 
ous abnormal ideas and fears to appear in its 
place. While the analyses of some cases show 
that this latter theory is a tenable one, yet it is 
only in a small minority that this holds true. 

Now according to Janet, any variations or 
disturbances in what he calls the psychological 
tension, or the normal mental level, that effort 
of complex mental synthesis, can lead to a 
psychasthenic state. In many psychasthenic 
cases a state of mental dissociation follows on 
this interference with the psychological tension. 
The peculiar feelings of unreality and deper- 
sonalization, during a portion or the whole of 
the disease, is an evidence of this mental disso- 
ciation. These changes in personality in 



278 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

psychasthenia are, however, incomplete, in con- 
tradistinction to the hysterical dissociations, 
where they are often total in their character. 
One psychasthenic patient offered a very clear 
example of this incomplete mental dissociation. 
In one of the states she felt as if she were " a 
bloodless nothing," a sense of tension, every- 
thing seemed out of harmony, she experienced 
darting pains all over the body and had diffi- 
culty in breathing. " I feel as if I were going 
to pieces. My neck is brittle, I feel as if I 
were a piece of chalk and would break in pieces. 
I seem to have no personality. I am rigid and 
brittle. I am nothing and float along. If I 
shut my eyes I do not think or feel." In the 
second state she had a sense of being " solid 
and good, like a living plant," ideas came with- 
out a feeling of effort, there was a sense of 
physical well-being, of cheerfulness, " I feel I 
am something, I know what I am. I am an 
entirely different person and these other tilings 
seem unreal to me." These different states of 
personality would alternate with one another 
and were of several hours' duration. 

Psychasthenia may be either hereditary or 
acquired. In the hereditary cases, there is usu- 
ally a history of some mental or nervous disease, 
either in the direct family or in some of its col- 
lateral branches. Many psychasthenic patients 



PSYCHASTHENIA 279 

have been shy and timid, from childhood up, 
blushing on slight occasions and subject to day- 
dreaming, imaginative lying, and mental rumi- 
nation, a tendency which is also noticeable in 
some hysterics. In the acquired cases, the dis- 
ease is usually brought about through an emo- 
tional shock. The incidents of this emotional 
shock, by a kind of an unconscious auto-sugges- 
tion, tend to repeat themselves automatically, and 
thus there arise the various obsessions and the 
recurrent attacks of fear. When the memory 
for the original episode enters consciousness it 
usually does so automatically and suddenly, to 
the exclusion of everything else. Hence arises 
the mental torture of the obsessions and phobias 
with their various physical symptoms. One 
woman developed a fear of closed places because 
on one occasion, while in a state of fatigue, dur- 
ing a visit in a small, close room, there arose a 
slight fainting attack. In still another case 
there developed a fear of crowds, because some 
time previously at a crowded school celebration, 
the patient became slightly overcome by heat 
and felt like screaming. Now in conditions 
like these, the recurrence of the fear is auto- 
matic, and the mental state of fear that develops 
is accompanied by its usual physical symptoms, 
such as trembling, palpitation of the heart, dry- 
ness of the mouth, a dazed condition of the 



280 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

mind, and cold perspiration. Sometimes the 
original incident cannot be voluntarily recalled, 
because it is dissociated. Under these condi- 
tions, the emotional state alone enters conscious- 
ness periodically. These so-called fear neuroses 
are really psychasthenic states. 

The obsessions are intellectual phenomena of 
the highest order, are ideas usually of a patho- 
logical character. They are frequently very 
abstract and complicated ideas. They are called 
obsessions because they obsess or possess the 
mind of the subject to the exclusion of nearly 
everything else. The obsessions are character- 
ized by their absence of usefulness in practical 
life; in fact, they may be interpreted as patho- 
logical and not as normal ideas. They are usu- 
ally divided into five classes, which again may 
have numerous subdivisions and variations, and 
relate to all the acts of everyday life. These 
five classes are, in general, obsessions of sacrilege, 
crime, disgrace of body, disgrace of self, and 
hypochondriacal ideas. In spite of their varia- 
tion and multiplicity of symptoms, the obses- 
sions have many common characteristics. They 
are usually automatic in their action and domi- 
nating in character, and while at times they 
may be less insistent than at others, j^et during 
the course of the disease, they are usually more 
or less present in the consciousness of the sub- 



PSYCHASTHENIA 281 

ject. Thought is always directed towards pecu- 
liar behavior, and extremes of behavior and 
actions are marked. There is a strong tendency 
to action, with a very marked absence of execu- 
tion, hence obsessions are usually associated with 
a certain weakness of the will. In spite of 
this weakness of the will, some patients will per- 
form acts having some relation to the obsession, 
or even contrary acts may be the result of the 
dominating idea, a kind of a reaction of defence. 
Sometimes these obsessions are associated with 
hallucinations, the hallucinations are always 
vague, thus diifering from the same phenomena 
of the insane. The visual image seems to be with- 
out color, and in the auditory type the words are 
without sound; they have not the characteristics 
of exteriority, they lack reality, they are merely 
symbolic of the dominating idea. Frequently 
these obsessed patients are forced to think in an 
exaggerated and unnatural manner, their head 
" works " in spite of them, they feel compelled 
to accomplish useless movements and have vio- 
lent, irresistible emotions. 

One of the most common of these obsessive 
states is what is known as the obsession of self- 
consciousness. Here the subject becomes ab- 
normally self-conscious in everything he does, 
a distinct embarrassment and timidity arises, 
particularly in the presence of strangers, some- 



282 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

times the hands tremble, and blushing is quite 
frequent. This pathological blushing is known 
as erythrophobia and it is really only a symp- 
tom of a pathological self-consciousness. 

One patient became obsessed with the idea 
that perhaps he had done something wrong 
during a certain examination. He analyzed his 
mental state as follows — " All this time there 
was hardly a quarter of an hour when I was free 
from the obsessing ideas. At first I laughed 
at the idea. Then I remembered that some one 
had once shown me some dates and asked me 
if they were correct. I feared that I had seen 
some dates and used them. Then I remembered 
that once I was given a foreign text without 
notes or vocabulary, in order to translate a pas- 
sage at sight. One word puzzled me and I 
turned over some leaves to see if I could find it 
in another context which would indicate its 
meaning. I remember saying to myself, ' No, I 
won't do that, some one might think I was crib- 
bing.' I stopped, although, of course, the tiling 
was entirely proper. Then I began to think that 
while, of course, I could never have taken help 
with me to the examination, yet I might have 
copied off the paper of some one near me. I 
couldn't remember doing such a tiling, but I 
couldn't remember not doing it. Then I began 
to think, that perhaps the reason I couldn't 



PSYCHASTHENIA 283 

remember copying was because it was so habit- 
ual that it made no impression on my mind. I 
wrote to the school and discovered that the dis- 
tance between the desks was so great that it was 
impossible for a man to copy. That eased my 
mind, but then came the idea that perhaps I had 
taken help into the class. This was strengthened 
by the discovery that I had foi'gotten so many 
incidents in my life." The above shows in an 
admirable manner the peculiar manner of think- 
ing and the abnormal logic of an obsessed pa- 
tient and how he will go to extremes of action 
in the attempt to either prove or disprove his 
obsessing idea. 

Obsessions are compulsory ideas, and from 
these obsessions it is but a step to other peculiar 
compulsory thoughts, known as mental manias 
or agitations. Here the mind of the subject 
swings or oscillates hopelessly between certain 
given ideas, never reaching a normal mean, but 
going from one absurd extreme to the other. 
These unfortunate subjects can never arrive at 
a final decision or a complete conviction. Shake- 
speare's Hamlet is a type of this condition of 
indecision. 

In the mania of interrogation, the question- 
ing relates mainly to the subject's personal ap- 
pearance. One patient was constantly troubled 
by a fear of growing old, frequently looked at 



284 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

herself in a mirror, and constantly repeated to 
herself, " Why are these men working? Why 
is this woman happy? Why is this house 
pretty? Why do people buy pretty things? 
I can't keep from getting old, and this is on 
my mind all the time. Everything I see re- 
minds me of getting old. I noticed a couple 
of wrinkles under my eyes and then I wondered 
if other people had them, and then I kept look- 
ing and looking at myself." 

In the mania of hesitation and deliberation 
the doubts which assail the mind of the subject 
prevent the execution of all normal acts. Some- 
times the patient is troubled with a mania of 
omens and then seeks the determination and 
carrying out of his actions in certain mystical 
and religious symbols. This type of mania can 
be found in the confessions of certain writers, 
like Rousseau, and in the pages of certain mys- 
tics, like John Bunyan. 

After a time, these manias may react in ways 
called by Janet the " manias of going to ex- 
treme." Here we have a multitude of sub- 
divisions whose symptoms are sufficiently indi- 
cated by their names. These manias are pre- 
cision, verification, order, symmetry, contrast, 
contradiction, cleanliness, micromania, the arith- 
metical and symbolic manias, explanation, pre- 
caution, repetition, perfection, etc. The arith- 



PSYCHASTHENIA 285 

metical manias are very curious and a number 
of these have as their basis superstitions which 
attach to certain numbers, for instance, three, 
seven, or thirteen. Some patients will avoid 
certain numbers; in others, a number becomes a 
fixed idea. One patient felt compelled to count, 
in spite of herself, the number of fingers with 
which she touched an object, and for nothing in 
the world would she touch an object with seven 
fingers at a time. If she happened to touch 
an object completely with three fingers and 
lightly with the fourth, this light touch would 
count as half a finger. This, if multiplied by 
two (because there are two hands), would equal 
seven, and hence the terrible number would 
again arise. 

The motor agitations or tics frequently ac- 
company certain psychasthenic states. These are 
peculiar muscular contractions, either shaking 
of the head or twitching of the face, in fact, 
any sort of muscular activity of which the 
human body is capable may enter into a tic. 
Tics are systematized muscular movements pro- 
duced regularly and automatically, thus differ- 
ing from the irregular muscular movements of 
chorea or St. Vitus' dance. The movements are 
useless and inopportune, however. Consciousness 
is always clear during these movements, but the 
will feels forced into their accomplishment. If 



286 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

there should arise a feeling of resistance, there 
always accompanies this more or less mental 
anguish, until the act is accomplished. When the 
subject thinks of it, or when there is increased 
attention, there is likewise an increase of the 
tic. Distraction has a contrary effect; it leads 
to a diminution. Stammering in many instances 
is a kind of tic. 

Under the emotional agitations are comprised 
the various pathological fears (phobias) and 
states of anxiety which usually accompany these 
fears. The number of these fears is legion, but 
for convenience they may be divided into four 
groups, viz.: — phobias of bodily functions, pho- 
bias of objects (delire du contact), phobias of 
situation (agoraphobia and claustrophobia), and 
phobias of ideas. 

These fears are always abnormal in character 
and, like the obsessions, are automatic. They 
may arise gradually, but their more frequent 
onset is through some emotional shock in a cer- 
tain place, which later tends to recur when the 
subject is in an identical place or anticipates 
being in such a place. So we see that auto- 
suggestion is an important fact in the produc- 
tion of these pathological states of fear. The 
attacks of fear are accompanied by a mental 
state of anxiety; sometimes the mind becomes 
a little cloudy; sometimes there arises a transi- 



PSYCHASTHENIA 287 

tory feeling of unreality. These mental accom- 
paniments of fear form true psychasthenic crises. 
Psychasthenic fears are usually intense, sys- 
tematized, and may attach themselves to any 
object or idea. Among the more common fears, 
are the fear of being alone (monophobia), fear 
of closed places (claustrophobia), fear of open 
places (agoraphobia), fear of dirt or germs 
(mygophobia), fear of the number thirteen 
(triskaidekaphobia), fear of railroads (sidero- 
phobia) , etc. Stage fright is also a condition of 
pathological fear. In addition to the mental 
state of anxiety that accompanies the attack of 
fear, there are also associated the usual physical 
accompaniments of fear, such as trembling, 
pallor, sweating, dryness of the mouth, increased 
heart action, and occasional disturbances of the 
stomach and intestines, all of which have already 
been sufficiently described in the chapter on the 
emotions. Most of the fears can be traced to 
an emotional episode which has been conserved 
in the unconscious; in a few cases, the original 
episode has become dissociated. 

In these states of abnormal fear, when the 
original experience which caused the fear has 
become dissociated from consciousness, it is 
necessary to form a synthesis before a cure can 
take place. This is well indicated in the fol- 
lowing personal observation. After a period of 



288 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

fatigue, incident to some rather strenuous social 
duties, a young woman had a peculiar attack 
one evening, just as she was about to fall 
asleep. She suddenly awakened from a drowsy 
state with a sensation as if she were going in- 
sane, her thoughts seemed confused and jum- 
bled, the head whirled, the heart palpitated, and 
she felt in a panic. This attack was of about ten 
minutes' duration. The attacks repeated them- 
selves nearly every night thereafter and tended 
to become longer and longer. An examination 
showed that the patient was free from any signs 
of hysteria. She was unable to explain the 
origin of the attacks. Here, undoubtedly, we 
are dealing with a recurrent state of fear, prob- 
ably due to some experience in the past, but 
which, by reason of the physical exhaustion, had 
become dissociated from the personal conscious- 
ness. Psycho-analysis led to the following inter- 
esting results. When the patient was placed in 
a state of experimental abstraction, a record of 
experiences was obtained, fragmentary at first, 
but they finally could be grouped into a logical 
order, in the same manner that the lost memories 
appear in functional amnesia. These dissociated 
experiences showed briefly that following a 
period of fatigue incident to the entertainment 
of some friends, the subject shortly afterward 
went on a visit, without complete recovery from 




PSYCHASTHENIA 289 

the fatigue. While on the train, she became 
greatly interested in a novel. In this novel there 
was given a vivid description of fear in one of 
the principal characters. In general this character 

10S 



h 



A B 

Fig. VIII. — Pulse curves in a psychasthenic subject, who had 
peculiar attacks of fear. 

A. — Increase of pulse rate when requested to mentally recall 
the original emotional experience. 

B. — No change in pulse rate after recovery when requested 
to think of the same emotional experience. 

At 1 in each case the test was made. 

became panic-stricken under certain conditions 
which it is not necessary to explain here. That 
same night the patient had her first attack of 
fear, and this was indefinitely repeated as de- 
tailed above. While in this state of experi- 
mental abstraction, in which the submerged 
memories were brought to the surface of con- 
sciousness, when asked to think of this experi- 
ence, there was an immediate increase in the 
pulse rate. [See Fig. VIII. A.] 

These details are very instructive and em- 
phasize the following points. During a state 



290 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

of fatigue certain incidents of a novel impressed 
themselves with great force upon her mind. 
While reading she was probably in one of those 
states of normal abstraction which have been 
already described. In this state of abstraction 
and fatigue, certain impressive incidents became 
immediately dissociated from consciousness and 
she could not voluntarily reproduce them. 
Hence a mental state of fear arose, with its 
accompanying physical symptoms, a mental 
state which exerted its baneful influence be- 
cause it had an activity independent of the 
subject's consciousness. 

In a condition like this, if the dissociated ex- 
perience were synthetized with consciousness and 
thus brought under control and censorship, the 
attacks ought to cease. This, in fact, was the 
case, and the patient recovered after this syn- 
thesis was accomplished. Coincident with the 
recovery, no further quickening of the pulse took 
place, when she was again asked to think of the 
original experience. [See Fig. VIII. B.] The 
physiological reaction of the pulse increase and 
the mental state of fear ceased because the emo- 
tions could now run a normal course. 

Sometimes, too, a recurrent attack of fear will 
take place, due to an association with some of 
the elements of the original attack. Here the 
psychasthenic state becomes what has been 



PSYCHASTHENIA 291 

termed an association neurosis. In these condi- 
tions, if an analysis be made according to the 
association method, it will be found that a 
slowness of reaction will take place with test 
words related to the original experience. In 
one case of this class, for instance, it was noted 
that while the reaction time for indifferent words 
varied between two and three seconds, yet for 
words relating to the emotional experience, the 
reaction time was increased from seven to 
twenty-five seconds. Here the emotional factor 
caused not only the recurrent attacks of fear, 
but also the inhibition of thought. 

While the phobias are classed under the head 
of systematized emotional agitations, the diffuse 
emotional agitations may be termed states of 
anxiety. Yet this latter is merely the mental 
and physical anguish that accompanies the 
phobias and obsessions; they are really the 
psychical and physical correlatives of the emo- 
tional state of the obsessed or fearful subject. 
In the same manner a state called mental rumi- 
nation accompanies the manias, a sort of patho- 
logical " to be or not to be," in which the subject 
accumulates ideas, piles question upon question, 
and finally loses himself in an inextricable maze 
of symbolism. 

A brief account of two cases will show the 
nature of these psychasthenic fears. The first 



292 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

patient, on one occasion, two years previously, 
while riding horseback, suddenly came to an 
open field. Immediately he became frightened, 
thought that he was going to fall off the horse, 
felt faint, the heart beat rapidly, he perspired 
freely, and trembled all over. He felt, to use 
his own expression, " as if the end of the world 
was coming." Since then he has been afraid of 
open places, of public squares, fields, and parks. 
If he goes into an open space, there results a 
repetition of the first attack of fear. Later he 
also developed a fear of closed places, such as 
cars and subways. In a closed place he becomes 
uneasy, develops a marked sense of anxiety, and 
feels like fainting. Here we have a typical 
example of the fear of both open and closed 
places (agoraphobia and claustrophobia). 

In another patient, these crises of anxiety 
due to fear became very intense and led to a 
sense of partial depersonalization. The patient 
expressed his condition as follows: " I am hor- 
ror-stricken. I am in a horrible daze all the 
time. There is nothing to me. I can't think 
or do anything. When I go out in the street, 
I am in constant fear of people. I feel panic- 
stricken. I have a frightful time getting home. 
I feel all contracted and cannot move, you can 
see my heart thumping all over, and I seem to 
feel disjointed, I have no legs or arms or hands, 



PSYCHASTHENIC 293 

my sensations are gone. My limbs seem to 
belong to some one else." 

There are two symptoms which frequently 
occur in psychasthenia and which in many ways 
are characteristic of the disease. These symp- 
toms are the feeling of unreality and the sense 
of depersonalization. The latter, in particular, 
shows that in many psychasthenics we are 
dealing with a form of mental dissociation. 
While these symptoms may also occur in certain 
mental diseases, such as melancholia, yet in the 
latter condition they are mere episodes, while 
in psychasthenia they result from the nature of 
the disease process itself. The feeling of un- 
reality relates either to the outside world or to 
the subject's own mental or physical personality. 
When the mental or physical personality is in- 
volved in the feeling of unreality, there follows 
that marked sense of depersonalization or the 
peculiar change in the identity of the subject. 
The explanation of this sense of unreality has 
given rise to many conflicting theories. Into 
these psychological explanations we cannot enter 
into detail, further than to state a few of the main 
facts of two of the opposing theories. Some 
German investigators claim that the symptom 
is due either to a disorder of the organic sensa- 
tions, particularly the muscle sensations, or to an 
alteration in the feeling of recognition. Janet 



294, DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

calls the phenomenon a psycholeptic crisis and 
claims that the symptom has nothing to do with 
organic sensations, because a careful search 
for changes in sensation in his case revealed 
nothing. Still others consider these strange 
feelings of unreality as a kind of diluted or 
lengthened epileptic attack which, if compressed 
into a shorter length of time, would result in 
unconsciousness. As a rule, the sense of un- 
reality comes on very suddenly and just as sud- 
denly ends. Sometimes it is of only a few min- 
utes' duration, at other times it may last for 
days and weeks, and then it is accompanied by 
intense anxiety because of the inability of the 
subject to properly grasp either the external 
world or his own personality. 

The external senses act only in an accessory 
and secondary manner in the " feeling " of the 
personality. All sensory perception is made 
up of two elements, the specific or sensorial 
element and the organic or myopsychic element. 
This latter is made up of sensations of muscu- 
lar activity, and the memory images of this 
activity are intimately united to the images of 
organic sensations of the internal or visceral 
organs. Their totality contributes to what is 
called the cenesthesia, the sense of our bodily 
existence, of our physical personality, the vague 
feeling which we have of our being, independ- 



PSYCHASTHENIA 295 

ently of the evidence of our senses. Now when 
this cenesthesia is disturbed in any of its parts, 
the feeling of unreality or depersonalization 
arises, due, according to one school, to changes 
in the organic sensations, and according to the 
other to a lowering of the mental level which 
interferes with the normal sense of reality. 

Now this sense of unreality may be of sev- 
eral varieties. The personality may appear 
changed, so that the subject loses his identity, 
either in part or in whole; the external world 
may appear strange, dreamy, misty, phantom- 
like, unreal; familiar objects may appear as if 
seen for the first time; finally, the personality 
may change from time to time, a real multiple 
personality occurring in a psychasthenic; in a 
few cases, even the thoughts may appear unreal, 
not a part of the subject's self, and finally there 
may be a sense of entire negation of self and 
of the universe. So we see that this sense of 
unreality may present varying degrees of in- 
tensity, from the very mildest forms to a com- 
plete sense of negation. A few details from 
cases will make this strange phenomenon 
clear. 

In the first patient, the attacks came on sud- 
denly and were of only a few minutes' dura- 
tion. The patient would suddenly feel strange, 
a sensation would take possession of her as if 



296 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

she were " pushed away," as " though my real 
self were away off there, and I didn't belong 
to myself. Things did not seem to belong to 
me, as if I were not a part of the surroundings. 
Things did not look natural. I wondered how 
I got there, and to whom all these things 
belonged." 

Another patient described her condition as 
follows: " I can't form a mind picture of where 
I live. I am all alone in my mind. Things 
change every day. The looks of my house and 
the street seem to change every day. It seems 
as if I lived long ago, as if I did everything 
before. It is all past, there is no present and 
no future. I am not conscious of sleep. I just 
open my eyes. I don't know who I am, — I've 
lost my identity. My mind is all gone, it seems 
as if there was nothing there. The feel of things 
is unnatural. I look at my body and wonder 
if it is mine, and I wonder if my mind is in 
my body. Everything looks large and magni- 
fied, and everything in the distance appears 
close." 

A third patient felt that " nothing is right. I 
don't feel like myself. I think I have a Dr. 
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde existence." Still another 
patient expressed herself as follows: " I feel as 
if I move in a great space of the world, I am 
not related to anything in the world. I feel 



PSYCHASTHENIA 297 

that I am not myself, that only a part is myself. 
I that was, am I no longer." 

The treatment of these psychasthenic states 
is distinctly psychotherapeutic, either by direct 
suggestion in certain artificial states or through 
synthesis. Re-education of the emotions is of 
particular value in psychasthenia. In all con- 
ditions, the physical element of treatment 
through baths, electricity, rest, and drugs must 
not be neglected. 



CHAPTER VII 

NEURASTHENIA 

Hysteria, psychasthenia, and neurasthenia 
may be called the great triad of functional 
neuroses. The last, however, is by far the most 
common of the three. The subject of neuras- 
thenia is a vast one, not only because of the 
wide distribution of the disease, but also from its 
complex symptoms. The history of the disease 
bears a curious analogy to that of hysteria. 
Whereas, both diseases were formerly considered 
to have a physical basis, hysteria as being de- 
pendent on some uterine disturbance and neuras- 
thenia as a form of genuine nerve exhaustion, 
modern investigations have shown the purely 
functional character of both these diseases. 
With the exception of Freud's recent theories 
on the part played by sexual emotions in the 
genesis of hysteria and some obsessions, the only 
survival of the old sex idea is in the etymology 
of the word, in the same way that " nervous 
exhaustion" persists as a popular term for the 
extremely complex psychological phenomena of 
neurasthenia. Although neurasthenia is the 

298 



NEURASTHENIA 299 

most common of all the functional neuroses, 
particularly in modern times and in our large 
cities, yet there is no word in medicine which has 
been so loosely or so vaguely used. How many 
patients are conventionally labelled with this dis- 
ease because of slight depression and fatigue 
symptoms, when in reality, in some of these 
cases, the neurasthenic state is an outward ex- 
pression of another functional disturbance. 
Sometimes a severe organic nervous disease 
may tend to resemble neurasthenia. In this 
chapter we can discuss only the most essen- 
tial points of the disease from the standpoint 
of abnormal psychology. In other words, we 
shall attempt to show that, like hysteria and 
multiple personality, neurasthenia is but one 
of the many expressions of a dissociation of 
the personality. The two principal factors 
producing this neurasthenic dissociation are 
the emotions and fatigue. In a previous chap- 
ter we have already seen how certain depress- 
ing emotions may lead to dissociation of con- 
sciousness, while, on the contrary, the emotion 
of well-being and exaltation has an opposite 
synthetic effect. Before we take up the subject 
of neurasthenia as a functional, fatigue neurosis, 
we will briefly direct our attention to fatigue 
itself, in its physiological, psychological, and 
pathological aspects. 



300 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

Fatigue is one of the phenomena of over- 
stimulation. If living tissue be subjected to 
long-continued or oft-repeated stimuli of any 
kind, after a time it passes into a condition which 
we call fatigue. In fatigue there is a decrease 
of the irritability of living substance, and even if 
the intensity of the stimulus remains the same, 
the results of the stimulation gradually become 
less and less. In addition, it will be found that 
it takes a stronger and stronger stimulus to 
bring about any reaction at all, until, finally, 
a point is reached where even the strongest 
stimuli are ineffective. If an isolated muscle of 
a frog be stimulated until it becomes incapable 
of further work and then the muscle is flushed 
or washed out with normal salt solution, it will 
again respond to stimulation. The Italian 
physiologist Mosso has shown that the introduc- 
tion of the blood of fatigued dogs into the 
veins of fresh, healthy dogs, will give rise, in the 
latter, to definite symptoms of fatigue. These 
experiments demonstrate that in fatigue certain 
deleterious products accumulate which act as poi- 
sons, and that these products prevent any fur- 
ther reaction of the living tissue to stimulation 
until they are removed. In normal tissue these 
fatigue products disappear after rest and sleep. 
Here we have an explanation, partial at least, 
of the beneficial results of rest and sleep in 



NEURASTHENIA 301 

normal and pathological fatigue. Since most 
neurasthenic states are only partially benefited 
through rest, and in some cases not at all, we 
must interpret neurasthenia as only partial fa- 
tigue neurosis. In fact, fatigue is only one of 
the factors in the production of neurasthenia as 
certain emotions can also cause the disease. The 
neurasthenic state appears to be but one of the 
many expressions of a dissociation of the per- 
sonality. 

Certain definite mental symptoms may also 
appear in fatigue. These are restlessness, dim- 
inution of attention, lack of energy, emo- 
tional instability, leading to apparently causeless 
laughter or crying, disturbances of association 
of ideas and difficulty in recalling words (am- 
nesia) . In addition, sensations which enter con- 
sciousness may be so abnormally felt as to 
become painful. This increased sensitiveness to 
certain stimuli such as light, noise, or even music, 
a kind of a fatigue hyperesthesia, is a frequent 
accompaniment of the neurasthenic state. How 
many neurasthenics exclaim, " How noises 
grate and jar on me!" When fatigue is car- 
ried to a point beyond the possibility of recovery 
by rest or nutrition it then becomes pathologi- 
cal. Exhaustion of the nervous system may 
take place either because abnormally high de- 
mands are made upon the nerve tissue, or be- 



302 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

cause there is not sufficient compensation for 
the functioning of the tissue. Therefore, for 
the maintenance of an absolutely perfect func- 
tion of the nervous system the relation of func- 
tion to reparative and nutritive processes must 
be accurately balanced. If there is an excess of 
function, the nervous system, in the intervals of 
rest, may not be able to repair the loss sustained 
by its activity. As a result, either a progressive 
degeneration or a functional disintegration of 
the entire neuron follows, leading to many forms 
of organic or functional disorders of the nervous 
system. These functional disintegrations may 
lead to definite changes in the personality and 
thus cause such conditions as the neurasthenic, 
hysterical, and psychasthenic states. Chemical 
analyses and the microscope have revealed noth- 
ing in neurasthenia. In spite of the old dictum 
that there can be no thought or nerve activity 
without the presence of phosphorus, yet analyses 
of the brain in neurasthenia have shown no 
diminution or changes in its highly phosphor- 
ized constituents. Chemical investigations of 
the excreta have likewise been barren of 
results and there has not been the slightest 
evidence, experimental or otherwise, for 
the validity of the hazy auto-intoxication 
theory. 

While it is true that fatigue may cause a 



NEURASTHENIA 303 

neurasthenic state, it seems also true that neuras- 
thenia is not a pure fatigue neurosis. This can 
be made clear, if attention be briefly directed to 
fatigue phenomena in the nervous system. As 
the result of careful experiments, it has been 
shown that the peripheral nerves, spinal cord, 
and brain are extremely resistant to fatigue, and 
that it is in the muscles that we must look for 
most fatigue phenomena. It is pointed out by 
Sherrington, that the reflex arcs in the spinal 
cord, which are composed of chains of nerve 
cells, " seem from experimental evidence to be 
relatively indefatigable." When the muscle is 
fatigued, its contractions are not so rapid as in 
normal muscles. That is why we work more 
slowly and with a sense of effort when we are 
tired. Now the sensations from these fatigued 
muscles enter consciousness and instead of 
"brain fag" or "nervous exhaustion," there is 
merely a consciousness of this muscular fatigue. 
The fatigue of neurasthenia is probably of this 
nature. While at the beginning of the disease, 
there is a real muscular fatigue, this fatigue 
ought to disappear after rest, because the mus- 
cles have had a chance to recuperate. This dis- 
appearance of fatigue phenomena in muscles, 
after rest, is in harmony with all the facts of 
experimental physiology. But in most cases of 
neurasthenia, even after a prolonged rest cure, 



304 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

the sense of fatigue continues. It may be in- 
definitely prolonged and even further rest will 
not serve to dissipate it. Now if the real mus- 
cular fatigue must have disappeared through 
rest, what, then, remains? Obviously, only the 
consciousness of the past muscular fatigue. The 
sense of fatigue has left its impression on the 
brain, in the same manner that a person feels 
a missing limb, long after it has been amputated. 
The limb left its impression on the brain, in what 
is vaguely termed the organic sensation. When 
the limb was amputated, this sensation remained 
as a memory, because of its long period of con- 
stant impression. So it is with the fatigue of 
neurasthenia. The real muscular fatigue has 
disappeared, only its memory, a false image 
of the fatigue, remains. Of course, by this we 
do not mean that the nervous system never be- 
comes fatigued. This fatigue takes place only 
under special conditions, however, such as severe 
overwork without adequate repair by rest or nu- 
trition. It is in this real fatigue of the nervous 
system, particularly after certain experiments in 
animals, that changes have been found in the 
nerve cells. These fatigue changes in the nerve 
cells are entirely absent in neurasthenic sub- 
jects. We do insist, however, that in most cases 
of neurasthenia we are not dealing with an ex- 
haustion of the nervous system, but merely with 



NEURASTHENIA 305 

a consciousness of memory of past muscular 
fatigue. 

There may be all grades of neurasthenia, from 
the slightest phenomena to the most severe 
types. It may be that the subject complains of 
only slight depression or fatigue symptoms, 
sometimes there are definite changes in the per- 
sonality, on other occasions the neurasthenic 
state may be the outward expression of another 
functional disorder, particularly hysteria. In 
fact, neurasthenic symptoms occur so frequently 
in hysteria that they constitute one of the most 
important so-called stigmata of the disease. For 
instance, one neurasthenic showed peculiar 
changes in the organic sensations, in which she 
was unable to appreciate the taste of bitter, or 
tell the difference between heat and cold, neither 
had she any sensations of fatigue or hunger. 
Another one felt as if her head and body were 
apart, as if the "two hemispheres of my brain 
were separated," and at other times she experi- 
enced sensations " as if I were shrinking, shrink- 
ing away to nothing." In still another case, 
there existed a complete sense of change of per- 
sonality, the patient stating, "It was as though 
I had possessed a dual personality." Miss 
Beauchamp, a case in which it was shown that 
the neurasthenic state was merely one of four 
personalities, presented many similar phenom- 



306 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

ena. Here, in addition to her normal self, there 
was a hypnotic personality known as B. I., and 
three other personalities known as B. II., B. 
III., and B. IV. Each of these personalities 
had a different degree of health. One personal- 
ity was decidedly neurasthenic, demonstrating 
that neurasthenic symptoms are often an evi- 
dence of a functional disintegration. 

Neurasthenia is very widely distributed in all 
countries. It occurs about as frequently in 
males as in females. Even children may have 
it, and it is fairly common at about the period 
of puberty. Heredity predisposes to the dis- 
ease, and fatigue, worry, emotional factors, and 
certain sexual disorders are frequent causes. 
Slight or grave emotional shocks in railroad or 
other accidents, particularly where the accident 
is unexpected, may lead to the so-called trau- 
matic neuroses, which are either hysterical or 
more frequently of the neurasthenic type. Men- 
tal overwork may cause neurasthenia, in that it 
more easily facilitates the dissociation of the per- 
sonality, and the fatigue induced by this over- 
work tends to automatically keep up this disso- 
ciation. Certain types of what is called con- 
genital neurasthenia, in which the subject from 
childhood up complains of physical weakness 
and mental insufficiencies, really belong to the 
psychasthenia group. The mental and physical 



NEURASTHENIA 307 

make-up of such subjects is what may be 
termed a psychasthenic constitution. 

Abnormal psychology interprets neurasthenia 
as a functional disorder, and like hysteria, mul- 
tiple personality, and the psychasthenic states, it 
is one of the forms of dissociation of conscious- 
ness. This explains the frequent inefficiency of 
the purely physical treatment of the disease. 
The disease, however, frequently has purely 
physical complications, such as gastric disorders, 
intestinal fermentation and a poor blood state, 
which, of course, need appropriate treatment. 
That these complications are the cause of the 
disease is very doubtful in the light of modern 
investigations, although certain purely physical 
diseases may lead to a condition strongly re- 
sembling neurasthenia, but probably not identi- 
cal with it. 

The sense of healthy personality depends 
upon the general feeling of comfort in our or- 
ganic sensations, as they are conveyed to con- 
sciousness. A healthy personality is a unity, a 
synthesis of various organic and mental sensa- 
tions. Anxiety, depression, fatigue, worry, if 
they do occur in the healthy individual, are 
usually transitory episodes. Any disturbance 
of the organic sensations can carry this anxiety, 
depression, or fatigue to an abnormal degree, 
and there arises a sense of discord between one's 



308 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

self and the outer world. In particular, abnor- 
mal fatigue or abnormal emotions tend to dis- 
turb the balance of organic sensations and a 
state of functional disintegration is produced 
with all its physical, intellectual, and emotional 
phenomena. The unity has fallen apart, and 
there results a state of weakened synthesis, dis- 
integration, dissociation, call it what you will. 
Fundamentally a change in the personality is 
produced, a dissociation of consciousness, and 
this dissociation may lead, according to its 
intensity, to either hysteria, multiple personal- 
ity, or neurasthenia. Therefore neurasthenia, 
like hysteria, is a state of abnormal, func- 
tional disintegration. This disintegration or 
dissociation is an abnormal psychological phe- 
nomenon, and like all other phenomena of its 
particular type, it tends to take on an auto- 
matic activity and becomes a habit. Hence the 
stubborn persistence of all neurasthenic symp- 
toms to treatment. The weakened synthesis in 
neurasthenia tends to the development of un- 
stable psychic elements and the personality be- 
comes disordered. The fatigue in particular, 
as was previously pointed out, is not real but 
is due to the persistence of certain abnormal or- 
ganic sensations in consciousness. The real 
fatigue which first caused the neurasthenic disso- 
ciation has vanished, and in the abnormal mental 



NEURASTHENIA 309 

state thus produced there is a tendency to re- 
peat automatically the previous sensations of 
fatigue. 

Neurasthenic symptoms, although mental, are 
not imaginary. The neurasthenic is a real suf- 
ferer. The catalogue of his ills is large and for- 
midable, yet how different is the living neuras- 
thenic from his inanimate counterpart of the 
text-books. The most striking point about the 
neurasthenic is his introspection, his continual 
morbid self-analysis. Only under the stress of 
intense emotions does the neurasthenic forget 
himself. The personality has become changed. 
Interest in things about him is lost, he feels 
broken up, depressed, anxious, cannot control 
his thoughts or feelings. The mental state of 
neurasthenia and its effect on the personality 
can perhaps best be conveyed by the following 
extracts from the letter of a highly intelligent 
patient : 

" I found an excessive self-consciousness, extreme 
sensitiveness, that showed itself in a way I could neither 
understand nor overcome. It seemed to me the fear 
and apprehension with which I had lived and suffered 
so long had persisted. The way in which this fear 
was manifested was exceedingly trying, humiliating, and 
perplexing to me. Most unexpectedly a fear of some 
one with whom I was associated would seize me, not 
necessarily a person whom I disliked, but most often it 



310 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

would be some one for whom I felt the greatest respect, 
and even affection. This fear would become a veritable 
panic and would seem to take possession of me, en- 
chaining my mind, body, and soul, making me helpless. 
I could not act out my real self, and found it im- 
possible to express myself naturally, either by word or 
act, and internally I suffered intensely. Often the 
nervous agitation would be so great that I would be 
weak and even sore from its effects. As a rule I re- 
sisted this strange intangible influence, with all the 
energy of my being, but it was very seldom I was able 
to overcome it. As a rule it baffled me, and when I 
felt I had done all I could and failed, I would simply 
leave the place and person, feeling myself conquered 
by an unseen, unreal, evil force, outside, apparently, 
of myself. Under this malign influence I lost my sense 
of the proportion of things ; this awful, diseased im- 
agination assumed such a mountainous size in my 
thoughts and life, at times all else was secondary to it." 

After a recovery through educational methods, 
the condition is described as follows: 

" It would almost seem as though I were describing 
another person. My old self seems so far away and 
the old periods of depression and agony are like a bad 
dream from which I have awakened. The old sense of 
unreality and the feeling that I was alone, an exception 
to the rest of humanity, is a thing of the past. Now 
I found the old, morbid, dismal thoughts and habits 
which had become automatic and thoughtless, had been 
replaced by exactly the opposite thoughts and habits, 



NEURASTHENIA 311 

and these are becoming more and more automatic and 
thoughtless." 

Another patient described the neurasthenic 
state as follows: 

" I am torn to pieces, I almost can feel every blood 
cell. I was much fatigued when I woke up this morn- 
ing. I am just dead tired and trembling and shaking 
all over." 

One of the most striking facts about the neu- 
rasthenic state is the automatic character of the 
symptoms. The continual self -analysis and the 
diminution of lack of outside interests tend to 
keep up these symptoms. The patient becomes 
obsessed by the idea of fatigue, that he must not 
overdo. In this state of weakened synthesis, 
the most unstable psychical elements develop. 
All the principal neurasthenic symptoms, such 
as fatigue, the fleeting pains, the headache, 
sleeplessness, sense of muscular weakness, can 
be explained on a psychological basis. In 
neurasthenia, as in hysteria, there is a narrowing 
of the field of personal consciousness. 

The symptoms of neurasthenia are manifold. 
Since a minute description is beyond the scope 
of this discussion, we will mention very briefly 
the principal symptoms of neurasthenia. One 
of the most prominent complaints is a sense of 
fatigue, which is very slightly or not at all modi- 



312 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

fied by rest, as most neurasthenics are decidedly 
more fatigued in the morning, even if they have 
slept well during the night. The fatigue is 
probably not a real fatigue, but a false one. 
Neurasthenics, when under stress of a painful 
emotion, either lose their sense of fatigue or 
cease to pay any further attention to it. A 
sense of fatigue which extends over a num- 
ber of years, as we see it in many neuras- 
thenics, which is not improved by rest, and 
which fails to cause collapse or a physical 
breakdown, cannot be identical with normal, 
physiological fatigue. According to Harten- 
berg 1 the fatigue of neurasthenia is merely the 
consciousness of the muscular weakness of this 
disease. This diminution of muscular energy 
and its rapid exhaustion in neurasthenia may be 
measured with the ergograph. By means of this 
instrument it can be demonstrated that mus- 
cular fatigue sets in very quickly, although the 
amount of energy may at first be equal to that 
of normal individuals. The diminution and the 
inhibition of muscular activity in neurasthenic 
states can be gradually overcome through con- 
tinued work, a kind of process known in 
psychology as " warming up." This is one of 
the reasons for the therapeutic benefit derived 
from mild exercise in neurasthenia. 

a P. Hartenberg: "Psychologie des Neurastheniques," Paris, 1908. 



NEURASTHENIA SIS 

Depression, dull headaches, and sleeplessness 
are quite common in neurasthenia, the insomnia 
being due, in part at least, to a fixed idea. The 
neurasthenic frequently misinterprets his phys- 
ical distress and pains and thus becomes de- 
cidedly hypochondriacal, imagining that he is 
suffering from all kinds of incurable diseases. 
The weakness of attention means to them a 
loss of memory; headache spells an incurable 
brain disease, etc. Most so-called " nervous 
dyspepsias" are merely symptoms of neuras- 
thenia. Recent work on the effect of various 
emotions on the gastric-intestinal tract has 
led us to believe that many of these " nervous 
dyspepsias" are purely mental in origin. The 
mechanism of these false cases of " nervous 
indigestion " has already been elaborated 
upon, in the chapter on the emotions, so 
that it is unnecessary to repeat the discussion 
here. 

Abnormal organic sensations frequently arise 
in neurasthenia, such as a feeling of depersonal- 
ization, numbness in the limbs, a subjective 
sense of muscular twitching, palpitation of the 
heart, a sense of emptiness in the head, or at- 
tacks of great anxiety, seemingly localized 
around the heart. Sometimes physical compli- 
cations referable to a poor circulation of blood 
are present, such as a rapid pulse, flushing of 



314 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

the face, dizziness, tremor of the tongue and 
hands. As a rule, the reflexes are increased. 

It must not be supposed that because neuras- 
thenia is one form of a mental dissociation that 
psychotherapy must be used in the treatment 
of the disease to the exclusion of everything 
else. While a certain amount of emphasis 
should be placed on psychotherapy, yet phys- 
ical treatment must not be neglected. This 
physical treatment helps to remedy the abnormal 
organic sensations which make the mind of the 
neurasthenic so miserable, and thus, in its way, 
it has a beneficial psychotherapeutic effect. 
This explains the efficacy of electricity, massage, 
modified rest, hydrotherapy, certain drugs, in 
the treatment of neurasthenia. There is no one 
panacea for the treatment of the neurasthenic 
state, no universal remedy which will overcome 
the fatigue, depression, or anxiety, or which will 
make the dissociated consciousness whole again. 
The treatment of the neurasthenic is a delicate 
problem, the individual must be studied as well 
as the disease, and success can be achieved only 
by a judicious combination of mental and phys- 
ical methods. Above all, the neurasthenic needs 
re-education, but whether this re-education 
should be simple or complex is dependent on 
many factors. 



CHAPTER VIII 

PSYCHO-EPILEPTIC ATTACKS 

Recently it has been recognized there occa- 
sionally occur conditions which stimulate at- 
tacks of real epilepsy. On close analysis, how- 
ever, it is found that these attacks have only a 
superficial resemblance to epilepsy, and that 
they are purely functional in nature. In all 
probability such conditions represent certain 
types of dissociations of consciousness. These 
attacks are known as psycho- epilepsy, a name 
which indicates the purely psychical and func- 
tional nature of the attacks and their differentia- 
tion from true, organic epilepsy. Whether the 
condition should be classed under hysteria, or 
as an episode in the course of a psychasthenic 
neurosis, is still an open question. The subject 
is an important one, however, because accounts 
are frequently published by the medico-religious 
cults and others, of the cure of epilepsy through 
purely psychotherapeutic methods. These so- 
called epileptic attacks are undoubtedly of a 
psycho-epileptic character, as genuine epilepsy 
is an organic disease which only simulates a 

315 



316 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

functional disorder and which does not yield to 
any form of psychotherapy. 

These psycho-epileptic attacks seem to be of 
several varieties. They may take the form of 
genuine convulsions, so far as the outward ap- 
pearance is concerned, these convulsions being 
either general or more rarely limited to a special 
part of the body. In one of my cases, the right 
arm alone was involved in the psycho-epileptic 
attack and the purely functional nature of the 
disorder was proven through a searching anal- 
ysis of the condition and its final cure through 
psychotherapeutic methods. In other conditions 
the attack may consist of a momentary confu- 
sion, intense anxiety, or even a feeling of deper- 
sonalization. This type may or may not be asso- 
ciated with a sense of unreality. One patient 
described his condition "as if my personality 
was gone. I see, hear, walk, converse, my men- 
tality goes on, but the tiling I call I, is 
changed." There is still a third form which 
these attacks seem to assume, a form which can 
be clearly differentiated from the other two. 
Here the attacks consist of peculiar momentary 
feelings of depression or numbness, without any 
loss or diminution of consciousness, and passing 
in a wave-like manner from one portion of the 
body to the other. Here the associated mental 
state is either anxiety, depression, or fear. 



PSYCHO-EPILEPTIC ATTACKS 317 

Now the important question arises — how do 
we distinguish these conditions from genuine 
epilepsy? When we come to consider the con- 
vulsions, we find that there is usually no history 
of epilepsy or fainting attacks in early youth. 
The attacks may be induced by emotional stress 
or mental or physical exertion. The seizures 
are of the nature of states of mental dissociation, 
which recur automatically and have an independ- 
ent activity. The genesis of the individual 
attacks is usually some emotional experience. 
Furthermore, the memory for the attacks is only 
apparently lost and may be recovered through 
appropriate psychological methods, either in its 
entirety or as isolated fragments. So far as 
my experience with amnesia is concerned, it is 
almost impossible to restore the amnesic periods 
in genuine, organic epilepsy. Finally, most im- 
portant of all, it is possible to reproduce an 
attack automatically. In one case in which the 
fit consisted of a spasm of the left arm, an at- 
tack was reproduced when the subject was 
placed in a state of abstraction. There is never 
an impairment of intellect or memory in these 
conditions, no matter how frequent the attacks 
may be, whereas one of the important signs of 
genuine epilepsy is a gradual deterioration of 
the intellect and memory. 

When the attacks consist merely of periodic 



318 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

anxiety and depression they can frequently be 
reproduced at will by allowing the mind to dwell 
upon the attacks and can even be prevented by 
directing the mind along other channels. The 
feeling of depersonalization, of unreality, the 
possibility of artificial reproduction of the at- 
tacks and of the artificial recovery of the am- 
nesic period, shows that we are probably deal- 
ing with a process of mental dissociation, in the 
form of automatic upheavals or uprushings from 
the subconscious, entirely removed from the 
domain of the will. 

So we see that these conditions may be dif- 
ferentiated from genuine epilepsy, although it 
must be admitted that this differentiation is dif- 
ficult and only possible through close study and 
analysis. The purely psychic character of the 
attacks is shown in their origin in anxiety or 
other emotions, the complete or abortive per- 
sistence of the anxiety in the attacks, the cleav- 
age of the personality, their automatic character, 
and the possibility of their artificial reproduction 
or the artificial synthesis of the lost memory for 
the attack. The condition may be cured by 
some form of psychotherapy, either suggestion 
or the synthesis of the dissociated state. In 
the disease called psychasthenia, there frequently 
occur attacks of intense dreaminess and unreal- 
ity, beginning and ending suddenly, which are 



PSYCHO-EPILEPTIC ATTACKS 319 

closely related to the condition of psycho- 
epilepsy, if indeed they are not identical with 
it. In fact, there are certain features in common 
between psycho-epilepsy and these psychasthenic 
attacks. These attacks are called psycholeptic 
crises and have been already discussed in the 
chapter devoted to psychasthenia. Likewise in 
hysteria, localized or general convulsions may 
occur, which strongly simulate a real epilepsy. 
Gowers * has described psycho-epileptic attacks, 
the symptoms consisting principally of periodic 
attacks of intense fear or of intense depression, 
usually beginning and ending suddenly, but of 
more or less protracted duration. After a dis- 
cussion of the condition, he asks the rather 
pertinent question — whether this prolonged 
mental state represents a condition of the brain 
which, if compressed into a moment, would have 
involved a loss of consciousness? The answer to 
this important question can only be determined 
by further analysis of cases of psycho-epilepsy. 
Brief reports of a few cases which came under 
personal observation will serve to make this 
subject clearer. 

The first case is that of a young woman, 
seventeen years of age, who for two years had 
suffered from peculiar " staring spells," which 
would come on and end suddenly, and were un- 

a "The Borderland of Epilepsy," 1907. 



320 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

associated with any definite warning or aura. 
There was no dizziness or loss of consciousness 
in the attacks. For several months before com- 
ing under observation she had been subject every 
morning to different attacks of the following 
description. On being awakened and after fully 
awake for a minute or two, she would suddenly 
have an attack consisting of an indistinct blub- 
bering, followed immediately by a spasm of the 
left arm which would take an ill-directed reach- 
ing attitude as if grasping for something. The 
eyes would be wide open and staring and there 
was complete loss of consciousness. The attack 
would cease abruptly when the patient was 
sharply spoken to or when she was roughly shaken. 
There was complete amnesia for the attack 
and also for the short period after being awak- 
ened (retrograde amnesia). For several months 
these attacks had occurred every morning with a 
clock-like precision, always on awakening and 
always in an identical manner. There was no 
foaming at the mouth or biting of the tongue. 
Once, while the patient was placed in abstraction 
by listening to a monotonous sound stimulus, an 
attack developed which in every way corre- 
sponded to the description. There were no 
special dreams, while the association tests yielded 
nothing of value. Recovery took place under 
psychotherapeutic methods. 



PSYCHO-EPILEPTIC ATTACKS 321 

In another patient the attacks consisted of 
a wavelike, " deathly sensation," starting on 
the left side of the abdomen, thence ascending to 
the left side of the head and then descending 
down the left arm, ending usually in a numbness 
and tingling of the fingers of the left hand. 
The entire attack was short, lasting usually 
for one-half to one minute, and sometimes, but 
not always, followed by a feeling of drowsiness. 
In the attacks there was no feeling of unreality 
nor of depersonalization, consciousness was un- 
affected, the left arm and leg could be moved; 
in fact, an attack would occasionally come on 
while she was sewing, but without any inter- 
ruption of the act. Most of the attacks oc- 
curred during the day, although occasionally an 
attack would take place at night and awaken 
her. There was never any loss of memory for 
the attacks and no feeling of anxiety or depres- 
sion preceding them. 

The effect of an emotional experience in caus- 
ing psycho-epileptic attacks is well shown in 
the following case. A year previous to coming 
under observation, the patient witnessed a Jew- 
ish massacre in one of the Russian cities. She 
hid in a cellar for eight days in a state of great 
fear, and once, when the cellar door was 
slammed on an approaching mob, she immedi- 
ately had a convulsive attack. Ever since, par- 



322 DISEASES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

ticularly when the eyes were closed, she would 
see horrible scenes of the massacre before her 
and a convulsion would follow. Once she 
dreamed of the massacre, at another time that 
her husband had been killed by the mob, and 
on both occasions she awoke in a convulsion. 
Again we have here the production of a psycho- 
epileptic attack through association of ideas. 



THE END 



INDEX 



Absent-mindedness, 14, 16-18. 
Amnesia, 15, 16, 21. 
Continuous, 184. 
Hysterical, 271. 
Lowell case of, 186-190. 
Retrograde, 183. 
Various types of, 182-185. 
Amnesic states, Synthesis of, 

190-194. 
Anxiety, Crises of, 291-293. 
Association centers in the 
brain, 69-71. 

neuroses, 290-291. 
Physiological basis of, 7, 71- 
72. 
Association tests in abnormal 
psychology, 72-87. 

in dementia praecox, 81. 
in juvenile delinquency, 84- 
87. 

in manic-depressive insan- 
ity, 83-84. 
Automatic writing, 11, 12, 28- 
36, 40-41. 

as dissociated active think- 
ing process, 11-12, 34-36. 

Babinski, J., 253. 
Bain, A., 64. 
Bechterew, W., 136. 
Bernheim, H., 136. 
Braid, J., 135. 
Breuer, J., 23. 
Briquet, 236. 

Calkins, Mary Whiton, 110. 
Cannon, W. B., 49-50. 
Charcot, J. M., 135, 236. 
Claparede, E., 64, 92. 
Co-conscious, 13-14. 
Complexes denned, 6, 25-26. 



Consciousness, 5-6. 

Automatistic theory of, 6. 

Parallelistic theory of, 6. 
Coriat, I. H., 53, 86, 103, 120, 

185, 211-212, 271. 
Crystal visions, 36-40. 

in Beauchamp case, 39-40. 

Dementia prsecox, 76-81. 
Dessoir, Max, 13. 
Dissociation, 7, 18. 
Dream consciousness in delir- 
ium, 128-130. 
Dreams in abnormal mental 
states, 112-113. 

Analysis of, 127-128. 
of the blind, 130-131. 
Freud's theory of, 113-115. 
in functional amnesia, 120- 
123. 
in hysteria, 125-126. 
as manifestations of an 
active consciousness, 117- 
119. 

in multiple personality, 
124. 

Psychological interpreta- 
tion of, 112. 

Sources of, 115-117. 
Statistical investigation of, 
110-112. 

Supernormal interpreta- 
tion of, 110. 
Dream states, recurrent, 124- 
125. 

Emotions in animals, 44-45. 
Central theory of, 47-51. 
Dissociating effect of, 61- 
63. 



323 



324 



INDEX 



Emotions: 

Electrical reactions in, 56- 
59. 

Evolution of, 42-43. 

Gastro-intestinal accompani- 
ments of, 48-51. 

Pathology of, 59-66. 

Peripheral theory of, 46-47. 

Physiological accompani- 
ments of, 45-46. 

Pulse reactions in, 53-56. 

in religion, 59. 

Synthetic effect of, 63-65. 

Fatigue, 300-305. 

Fear neuroses, 60, 279-280, 286- 

290. 
Fere, Ch., 60. 
Flight of ideas, 83. 
Flournoy, Th., 11, 12, 33, 36, 

217. 
Freud, Sigmund, 12, 13, 18, 23, 

77, 112, 113, 155, 158, 237, 

243, 277. 
Forel, A., 134. 

Gilbert, J. A., 97. 
Goltz, F., 46. 
Gowers, W. R., 319. 

Hartenberg, P., 312. 
Hering, E., 179. 
Hypnagogic state, 102-107. 

hallucinations in, 105-107. 
Hypnoidal state, 25. 
Hypnosis as a form of absent- 
mindedness, 143-148. 
in animals, 133-135. 
as an artificial hypnagogic 
state, 142-143. 

Circulatory theory of, 137- 
138. 
Chemical theory of, 138. 
Histological theory of, 136- 
137. 
Psychology of, 138-142. 
as a modification of sleep, 
136. 

Therapeutic value of, 148- 
150. 



Hyslop, J. H., 33, 217. 
Hysteria, Amnesia in, 271. 

Anaesthesia in, 241-243. 

Convulsions in, 246. 

in history, 234. 

Juvenile types of, 237-238. 

in the making, 266-268. 

Mental symptoms of, 247- 
248. 

Paralysis in, 239-247. 

Psycho-analysis of, 161-173. 

Treatment of, 271-272. 

Visual field in, 243-245. 
Hysteria, theories of: 

Earlier theories, 236-237. 

Babinski's theory, 251-253. 

Freud's theory, 258-265. 

Janet's theory, 248-251. 

Prince's theory, 253-257. 

Sollier's theory, 253. 

Insomnia, 98-101. 

James, William, 46, 47. 

Janet, Pierre, 13, 14, 23, 32, 
100, 126, 184, 216, 218, 231, 
242, 244, 248, 266, 273, 277, 
293. 

Jastrow, J., 112, 131. 

Jones, Ernest, 162. 

Jung, C. G, 53, 57, 78, 237. 

Lange, G, 46. 

Manaceine, Marie de, 97, 117. 
Memory, Biological theory of, 
177-180. 

Illusions of, 208-216. 
Psychology of, 180-182. 
Restoration of lost periods 
in, 190, 207. 
Mental manias, 283-285. 
Mesmer, 135. 
Mobus, P. J., 236. 
Mosso, A., 90, 300. 
Multiple personality, Case of, 
218-232. 
Complex types, 217. 
as hypnotic phenomenon, 
216-217. 



INDEX 



325 



Multiple personality: 

as a hysterical state, 256- 
257. 
Miinsterberg, H., 11. 
Myers, F. W. H., 9. 

Negative hallucinations, 16. 
Neurasthenia, Causes of, 306- 
307. 

as a dissociation, 307-309. 

not a pure fatigue neurosis, 
301-305. 

as a stigma of hysteria, 305- 
306. 

Symptoms of, 309-314. 

Treatment of, 314. 

Obsessions, 280-283. 

Paramnesia, 15. 

in alcoholic insanity, 212- 
215. 

Occurrence of, 210. 
as a temporary dissociation, 
210-212. 
Patrick, G. T. W., 97. 
Pawlow, J. P., 48-50. 
Peterson, F., 53. 
Prince, Morton, 9, 13, 14, 18, 
24, 58, 124, 147, 162, 172, 216, 
217, 218, 254. 
Psychasthenia, 273. 

as a dissociation, 277-278. 
Symptoms of, 273-274. 
Treatment of, 297. 
Psycho-analysis, Freud's theory 
of, 155-161. 

General principles and 
methods of, 151-155. 

in hysteria, 161-162, 163- 
173. 

in multiple personality, 162- 
163. 
Psycho-cardiac reflex, 56. 
Psycho-epileptic attacks, Nature 
of, 317-319. 

Varieties of, 316. 
Psycho-galvanic reaction, 58. 



Psychotherapy, 26, 27. 
Putnam, J. J., 158. 

Reserve energy, 64. 

Retina, After-images of, 5. 

Sante de Sanctis, 110. 
Sergi, G, 46. 

Sherrington, C. S., 47-48, 303. 
Sidis, Boris, 94, 123. 
Sleep, Biological theories of, 92- 
95. 

Chemical theories of, 91-92. 
Depth of, 101. 
Effects of loss of, 96-98. 
Histological theories of, 90- 
91. 

Physiological theories of, 
89-90. 

Psychological theories of, 
92. 
Sollier, P., 253. 
Somnambulism, 108. 
Strong, C. A., 6. 
Subconscious, as an active think- 
ing process, 11-12. 
defined, 3, 7, 27. 
in disease, 22-27. 
in everyday life, 15-21. 
as an inactive mental state, 
10. 
as a marginal state, 9. 
Modern theories of, 8-14. 
as a physiological process, 
11. 
as split-off ideas, 9. 
as subliminal self, 10. 
Synthesis, 7-8. 

Tics, 285-286. 
Tissue, Ph., 112. 
Traumatic neuroses, 61. 
Tyndall, J., 4. 

Unreality, feeling of, 293-297. 

Verrall, Mrs. A. W., 28. 
Verworn, Max, 133-134. 



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